Sins of our Father
by Zadien
Summary: “I don’t have magic and nor do I want it. It’s nothing but a crutch something people come to rely on but in the real world, you can’t just snap your fingers and have everything fall into place.”
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura. I do however own the plot of this and the other crap that belongs to me. **

_Well, this is finally the CCS story I was saying I was writing. So far, the plot seems pretty good. There's another CCS fic I have on the sidelines I plan to post soon too. I'm sorry to those who liked my other stories but alas, guys it wasn't my best stuff. I mean, where was the subtle funiness or the sarcasm or the other crap I pride myself in having in my fics? It wasn't there because they were dull as dishwater. This I hope does better, not that I ever had to complain about lack of reviews because everyone on the CCS section who supported me were never shy about reviewing, I just couldn't do Sakura's character any justice. It's just my fault. However I hope you all like this. _

The people of Tomoeda have a dark past and when Sakura Kinomoto shows up, she threatens to unmask one of the most horrendous crimes in the small magickal village. Someone will stop at nothing to stop her for good while others will do all in their power to help her uncover her past and the secret that has remained so long buried. 

****

**_Prologue_**

The Village of Tomoeda sat nestled in a valley between two hills hidden from normal sight. Only people who knew it was there were aware of it but it was built to keep out those who were not worthy of viewing its treasures, the ever blossoming cherry trees, the lush parks and crystal streams and great lake. The beautiful scenery of nature at its best had been what had first attracted the mages of Japan to this beautiful district and because of the magick kept within the valley itself that kept the people safe, the people in turn kept the valley free from intruders by placing repelling spells and cloaking spells around it. There was only one road into the valley that wound around the mountains and it was always watched. Everything the inhabitants of the small village could ever need had been provided, a kindergarten, an elementary school, a junior and senior high school but their wasn't enough people to set up a college so once finished high school, the young adults would have to leave the safety of Tomoeda and go out onto the mainland. There were also café's and shops and even an attorney's office nestled behind the police station, though no one ever really needed an attorney since it was easier to get the Elder to settle things.

And over looking it all, up on the hill, was the great Li Mansion.

The great Li Mansion was the oldest house in the vicinity, built by the Great Clow Reed who had settled in the small valley after visiting it once with his Chinese mother. He had lured people to the village, people he thought worthy of the paradise and for a while, he had named the town Reedington before changing it to Tomoeda because he hadn't wanted the glory of the town. Even though he was long dead, he was still celebrated as the creator of the paradise the people were grateful to live in every day. He had left his legacy in the form of the Li Clan, a family who spread out through the village and who ruled it fairly with the input from other well known families with deep roots in magick. Ever since Clow Reed's day, the council of elders had become a matriarchal system with the eldest female taking the leading role simply because they seemed to show the most aptitude with magick though should a male member who was of age show more magick than a female member, he would be asked to join the outer council until he was old enough to join the inner.

The council was in charge of monitoring magick in the small haven, keeping an eye on the patriots to make sure none of them took advantage of the pure power that ran deep in the earth that was used by the land to keep them safe. The land magick was never used for evil and only tapped into when the habitants gathered together to perform a blessing or a farewell, or to seal away a lost spirit. For such a town, so steeped in tradition, technology had made its way to the village through the college students returning to Tomeoda after their time in the city. But alas, being human they could not all live peacefully in the paradise on earth the great magician had created for them and in turn, greed and vengeance reared it's ugly head. For all it's beauty, Tomoeda held the darkest of secrets in her great depths, buried and kept hidden by the council for the protection of it's people but now as an old acquaintance returned, the secrets that had once been undisturbed were about to be revealed and lives were about to be changed irrevocably.

* * *

"Fujitaka Kinomoto is returning." Yelan Li spoke softly to the people gathered in the meeting room but she did not look at them, instead she continued to look out the window at the lush vegetation up the side of the mountain behind her great home. Her elegant face was calm and composed, not betraying the panic that was threatening to bubble up and consume her from within. Her deep brown eyes, so dark they were almost black, were somber and outlined in kohl. She was indeed a beautiful woman with great power surrounding her but hidden beneath a veneer of tranquility, not a peaceful tranquility but an arrogant composure. Her hands were clasped together, motionless because she was well aware of how movement could give away ones thoughts and she kept her inner most thoughts to herself.

Finally she turned to her council members and regarded them with vague interest. Her long black hair was pulled back taut from her face almost giving her a severe look but something softened her, a gentleness that she never revealed very often. She'd hardened considerably with the death of her husband that left her to the take control of the council, something she'd never been destined for.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Ta-tap. Ta-tap. Ta-tap.

"Sonomi do you wish to say something?" Yelan asked the woman sitting stiffly in her chair, tapping her fingers agitatedly off the table.

Daidouji Sonomi lifted her head with a tilt of her chin and met Yelan's gaze. The air sparked with words unsaid before Sonomi turned her gaze away. "You know what I have to say Yelan."

A small smirk played on Yelan's lips which had been slicked with something vibrantly red. "I'm sorry, telepathy was never one of my strong points."

"Call up your spirits, I'm sure they'd be happy to tell you my thoughts on the matter." came the caustic reply as Sonomi crossed her legs before smoothing down her short business skirt. She'd been called from a potentially vital meeting with a client from Tokyo to come to this meeting. She could transfer it to another day but she'd have preferred to meet with him face to face, now she would have to settle for a video conference. It was not a way to do business, yet what would Yelan know about that? Yelan had her eldest daughter handle all business affairs out of Tomoeda and she had two more daughters to attend to the other affairs. Sonomi's eldest and only child was currently finishing her last year in high school.

"I do not appreciate your tone of voice Sonomi. You may be my friend but know your place! In the council, I am leader."

"Yes, Li-san." came the biting retort and Yelan sighed. It would just not do for her to be at odds with her most trusted friend and advisor. She would hold Sonomi back and then let her friend vent out her anger and frustration but she could not act like a sulking child in front of the other council members, it was just not right.

"Why is he returning? There is nothing here for him." Mizuki Kaho spoke her words slowly and cautiously as though she were trying to think of an answer to her own question. One of the youngest members of the council, Kaho showed great ability, an ability that far outshone her predecessor, her uncle Naraku.

"Maybe he feels that there is." Mike Terada responded. Something was nagging at the back of his mind, something of great relevance yet he could not pin point it. He was the other younger member of the council, at 27 only two years older than Kaho. He was also the only male member and because of that, he was rarely given as much attention as the other four members.

"Nadeshiko is dead." Sonomi spat. "He has nothing here. He should stay away, there is no college here and no artifacts for him-"

"The museum." Kaho said, sitting up straight. "They're looking for a new curator."

"But he isn't a curator and it would be a job that he wouldn't be qualified for."

Hay-Lin Hiragizawa, the last member of the council nodded at Mike's comment. "A top Tokyo professor doesn't come to a small town to become a curator for a museum no one visits."

"Something else must call him here." Yelan surmised. "His son would be what now? 21? 22? He was six when Nade… he was six when Fujitaka left." she paused and contemplated the reasons for a man with a grown up son to return to a village he'd been driven from almost two decades ago.

"Twenty three." Kaho corrected. "From my knowledge, he went on to medical school."

"Does the practice need a doctor?"

Sonomi sneered. "Please. We're a race bred of magick, what do we need of chemicals and modern medicines? They are nothing but contaminates."_This from a woman who makes toys for a living. _Mike smothered a laugh at Kaho's comment in his mind. Kaho's ability for mind reading was astounding, no one showed as much talent for it as she. She could delve into her subjects mind and pull out anything and speaking into a mind was hardly a draining process for her, which was why she often abused it when it came to Mike. They'd grown up together so he was well used to her thoughts often mingling with his and he had no secrets from her, even if he had wanted to, he knew that it wasn't feasible.

_She also depends a lot on technology, _he thought and felt her laughter ring through his mind._ How do you know about Touya Kinomoto?__I was asked to keep an eye on his father and I kept an eye on him too, it was only natural when I was living in Tokyo that I should watch them._

_Then you know why he's returning? _He wondered.

_I have a vague idea. I won't bring it up here in front of Sonomi. _

It was odd for both of them to see Sonomi so distraught and out of control but they could understand it. But out of the three elder women, Sonomi was the one who became antagonized easily. She didn't have a cold temper the way Yelan did, nor a hot temper that… well she didn't have a hot temper but she was the one to hold a grudge and once on her bad side, it was hard to get on her good side. If she didn't like you, she made sure you knew and Kinomoto Fujitaka was one person she just didn't like.

Hmm… Although Kaho respected Mike's thoughts, she wanted to know what was bothering him and she had the power to do so. Looking down at the varnished finish of the mahogany round table she sat at, she opened her powers and reached out a tendril to Mike. Closing her eyes, she rooted through the images that flashed through her brain, sifting through until she found the image that was trying to catch his attention. A school record of a seventeen year old girl… Oh goddess!

Although Kaho respected Mike's thoughts, she wanted to know what was bothering him and she had the power to do so. Looking down at the varnished finish of the mahogany round table she sat at, she opened her powers and reached out a tendril to Mike. Closing her eyes, she rooted through the images that flashed through her brain, sifting through until she found the image that was trying to catch his attention. A school record of a seventeen year old girl… 

_Kaho! _Mike snapped alarmed and books rattled on the bookshelves on the walls.

Yelan turned her attention from the window, from the manicured lawns, the neat rows of flower beds and the large Cherry Blossom tree with the small swing hanging from it. She warily looked at both Kaho and Mike and frowned. Kaho had been in Mike's mind, her aura was mingling with his still.

"Is there something you two would like to share?"

Hay-Lin surveyed them with dark blue eyes. Kaho was a distant relative and since Kaho was the youngest of the council she felt it necessary to watch the girl and take responsibility though Kaho was incredibly mature, she and Mike tended to spark off each other because they'd grown up together. Her mouth firmed into a thin line as she caught the amusement in the young woman's warm sherry eyes even as she shook her head. Abruptly Hay-Lin turned to Yelan. "What of the book?"

"What of it?"

"Does he-" She broke off as Yelan held up a hand and tilted her head towards the door. Her eyes narrowed, then a slim brow arced as a small smile played on her lips. She threw out her hand and sent a wave of almost visible power at the door. There was a yelp and then silence. She smirked and nodded for Hey-Lin to continue, feeling pleased that they would have no other interruptions for the meeting.

* * *

Outside the door Fiemie Li folded her arms and pouted. The youngest of the Li clan, she was fed up being punished because she followed her older brother's orders. Next time he could do all the spying on his own. With a scowl to mirror her brother's, she turned away from the door knowing that she would not extract anymore information from them. She clambered to her feet, her feet making no noise on the dark and rich wooden hall floor. Without a sound she made her way up the narrow stair case, only lit up from the white light coming in through the lace curtains on the window. She trailed her hand up the banister, noting the lack of dust.

Their butler Wei always organized the maids well and the house was always spotless, it was fascinating to watch how he got good results without resorting to threats or raising his temper. Ever since she could remember, Wei-san had been an integral part of the family. He was like a favorite uncle, making sure the children were catered for and listening with a kind ear when they had a rough day at school and offering impartial advice. He was great and deserved a present, she decided. She'd ask Fuutie her thoughts, Fuutie always had great ideas for presents.

Rounding the landing which was decorated in much of the same fashion as the rest of the house with cream walls, open spaces, mahogany wooden floors and oriental rugs in vivid red with a lush green potted plant in the corner. Her sock clad feet padded over the polished floor as she made her way down the hall to an open doorway. Pushing open the door, she peeked inside and sighed. The whole gang was there and on the swivel chair tossing a ball into the air was her brother. His gaze was turned towards the ceiling, his head resting against the back of the chair as his feet twirled him from left to right and then back again.

He felt her presence before she made a sound and whipped his head up to look at her. "Well?"

She stared at him confused. His mouth opened, she felt like he'd said something but she hadn't heard anything. Come to think about it, all she could hear was blissful silence. There was no annoying buzz from the electronics and no bird song or just white noise that she was used to.

"Fiemie?" Syaoran scowled, why wasn't his sister answering?

Li Meilin raised her eyes from the magazine she was flicking through. She shifted from her position of lounging sideways over a leather arm chair by the window so she could peer at her younger cousin. The young girl of fifteen was standing in the middle of the room staring at her brother, her short crop of auburn hair was shaped around her strikingly beautiful face while her dark brown eyes, shades darker than her brother's, were filled with confusion.

"Fiemie?"

With a grin of sadistic glee, Meilin clapped her hands sharply and then her grin brightened as she caught sight of the smirk playing on Syaoran's lips. "She's been cursed!"

Another figure in the room glanced up from her laptop. "Oh poor Fiemie."

"Another one bites the dust." Meilin cackled wickedly.

"WHAT!" Fiemie shouted. "DID YOU SAY SOMETHING?"

"Syaoran put her out of her misery." Daidouji Tomoyo ordered softly, feeling a twinge of sympathy for the younger girl but it didn't prevent her from recording her friends plight. "After all it is your fault she's in this predicament."

Syaoran Li unfolded himself from the swivel chair and approached his little sister. He cast his cousin a dark look when she pleaded with him not to take off the spell because it was just too funny. Grabbing his sister by her slender shoulders, he focused her attention on to him and then he raised his hands to her left ear and clapped loudly.

The waves of sound reverberating from the sharp sound broke through the barrier and sound flooded into the young girls ears assaulting her senses with rock music from Meilin's CD of choice and the odd chime from the clock and the beep from Tomoyo's laptop. But the sound was distorted as though being filtered through water.

"Fix the other ear too please, Xiao Lang." she pleaded using her brother's Chinese name, the special one he didn't let any one use. For some reason her brother was twitchy when it came to people knowing his name, he said there was a power to someone having your true name and he didn't like anyone having power over him. Only his mother truly could order him to do anything, his sisters had to manipulate him with their sisterly charms and, of course, blackmail worked just as well.

Syaoran sighed heavily and clapped at the other ear and saw the relief rush over his sisters cute Chinese features. "Now." he said, turning away from her and approaching the window. "What did you find out?"

"A simple hello wouldn't kill you." she grumbled and waved to the three others in the room, her cousin Meilin, the always nice Tomoyo who was friends with her brother though Fiemie couldn't figure out why and her something relative Eriol Hiragizawa. She couldn't quite figure out how he was related to the Li family, he was supposed to be the reincarnation of Clow Reed-sama which wasn't unlikely because reincarnation was a very big part of magick but still that was sort of weird when Clow Reed, their ancestor, was a great grand-something or other. She wasn't too sure on the particulars of it. To find out, she would have to look through some musty old books and that wasn't one of her top one hundred fun things to do.

"Fiemie."

She jerked at her brother's sharp order then sighed heavily and flopped onto his abandoned chair, kicking herself off and lifting her legs onto the chair as she twirled around. When she came to a stop she stretched out her legs. "Ok, well first of all, they did the usual pleasantries, inquiring about the family and stuff. Heard you got new prescription lenses Eriol, very cute." she flashed the mildly amused young man a grin. He was always so composed and in control that it sometimes creeped her out, kind of like the way the Cheshire cat in Alice In Wonderland creeped her out, he was harmless enough but just eerie with the whole grin a minute deal. He always seemed to have a secret no one else knew or an inside joke only he got. Anyway he didn't bother her too much.

"Huh, did you get new frames too? They're very stylish." Tomoyo commented zooming in on him with her camera. He could be cast as the very personable yet mysterious villain in the film she was thinking of making.

"Thank you Daidouji-san."

"People." Syaoran growled. Eriol put his teeth on edge with his attitude so the less attention given to the bastard the better. "Fiemie."

Fiemie wrinkled her nose and hefted a heavy sigh. "Yes, yes. Anyway- hey Eriol how come you always refer to us so formally. I mean, you were in diapers with the rest of them."

"Oh Eriol was far too mature to wear diapers." Meilin drawled, raking a hand through her black hair rinsed with a blood red sheen. "When the rest of us were in the playpen he was plotting world domination, right Eriol?"

Eriol smiled pleasantly. "Quite correct Li-san."

"Confusing much. I'm Li-san, Syaoran's Li-san and Meilin is Li-san." Fiemie declared with a roll of her eyes. "We can't all be Li-san, can't you just call me Fiemie? Or does my name disgust your tongue?"

"Fiemie!"

"No seriously Syaoran this is actually bothering me."

Tomoyo smiled at the younger girl. Fiemie was very friendly and full of life, she wasn't restricted by Li clan rules the way her brother was and so she could afford to be carefree. Also, since she came back from her holiday in America she had adopted a more open attitude. "I think Eriol finds it hard to be so familiar with us because he lived in England all those years and so he can't be as close as us."

Syaoran raised his eyes to heaven then stiffened. "Feel that?"

Fiemie frowned then felt the roll of power cruise up her spine. "Magick, a lot of it."

"Coming our way." Tomoyo stated not removing her amethyst eyes from the screen before us yet her attention wasn't on the scene she was formatting.

Meilin looked around at her friends, all of whom had magick and she didn't. Though Tomoyo's wasn't anything as powerful as Eriol's or Syaoran, she could still sense things and Meilin envied even that but Meilin had her own strength which was why she was Syaoran's right hand person. "Who?"

"I don't recognize it." Fiemie announced plucking out a thin crisp slice and popping it in her mouth.

Syaoran frowned and pulled at the curtain to peer out but saw nothing except his senses were screaming their alarm. "I… no that can't be."

"I believe it is." Eriol said with some concern as he sat up in his chair, then smirked. Now this was interesting, he thought as he felt the second aura.

"Fiemie tell us everything they discussed, the main points."

Startled by her brother's sudden shift from annoyed to strict leader, she struggled to remember the conversation she'd over heard while Meilin shifted to look at her and Tomoyo closed off her laptop and turned to face her. "It was nothing, just the usual and then Mama announced that he was coming."

"Who?" Meilin queried.

"Oh…um. Kino- no. Kinobe?… no that's Starwars… Kinomiya? Oh…" she moaned and trailed off, then snapped up straight with an exclaimed. "Oh! Kinomoto Fuji-taco? No wait, Kinomoto Fujitaki, taku, take, taka, oh!" she grinned and snapped her fingers. "Fujitaka! Kinomoto Fujitaka."

Syaoran raised a brow. "You sure? It wasn't Taco bell or McDonalds?"

Meilin snorted a laugh and Tomoyo smothered a smile at the dry tone their friend used. Fiemie scowled. "No! Kinomoto Fujitaka or Fujitaka Kinomoto whatever way you want to put it but I'm sure of it and when she said that, _your_ mother freaked out!" She directed the comment to Tomoyo.

The girl with the dark violet almost black hair and eyes to match complimented by alabaster skin gaped at her young friend. "My mother? Are you sure?"

"Yep. I'm almost positive. Mama wasn't pleased with her outburst. There were…" she struggled to sum up her thoughts coherently. "The conversation was mostly filled with innuendos."

"What?" Meilin yelped almost falling off the chair she'd been sprawling in.

"Not sexual ones!" came the sharp retort from her younger cousin. "I mean, the conversation was filled with implications and secret comments that you'd only understand if you knew the whole story. They mentioned him coming back which suggests he was here before." she shrugged helplessly.

Syaoran frowned. "I don't remember there being a Fujitaka Kinomoto. I'm sure I would have remembered."

"Maybe, maybe not. Maybe it was before our time. Nadeshiko was also mentioned as well as the Book."

"What book?" Tomoyo demanded. And why had Nadeshiko been brought up, she had died years ago, almost twenty soon.

"The book of Clow, of course." Eriol said leisurely resting the ankle of one leg on his thigh and leaning back as all attention fell on him. He watched them with cool serene blue eyes. His mop of sleek black hair that glinted blue flopped down to his ears from the center parting. He looked mysterious and charming.

"The book of Clow?" Fiemie asked confused. Ok, this was way out of her knowledge now.

"Yes the great book of Clow, a book that held all of the Clow cards, a group of power cards infused with magical spirits used for all sorts of things, such as one to help someone fly, another to jump or one that could fight or shoot arrows. They were very powerful, naturally because Clow Reed was one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world."

"Not half blowing your own trumpet." Meilin muttered under her breath but timed it wrong as the music from the current song playing faded away as it ended. She blushed slightly. Oops. "Well he was."

"You forget Li-san, I am not Clow Reed just as Clow Reed is not me. I am merely Eriol."

Syaoran grunted but declined from saying anything. Instead he folded his arms and gazed out the window, his brandy colored eyes reflecting deep thought under fierce dark brows and chocolate bangs. His dangerously handsome face was as stoic as ever rarely breaking into smiles or signs of warmth. He was regarded as cold and heartless but he was anything but that, he just wasn't one for public displays of affection nor did he like the flamboyancy that his sisters exuberated. It was a rebellion of sorts to be as emotionless as possible so he didn't humiliate himself and end up being blackmailed.

"So what does this book have to do with anything?" Meilin demanded as the silence began to gnaw at her. Never one to sit back and relax, Meilin was filled with restless energy that had to be directed somewhere and it usually became directed into someone's face. She liked confrontations, she never backed down from a fight and she was loyal to a fault, never leaving a friend when they needed her. She was fiercely loyal to Syaoran because he was her cousin, once a childhood love who'd indulged her when she demanded she wanted to marry him but that idea fell through as they grew up together. She still cared but… well feelings fade and change with the years. What she'd once thought of as love was now a deep affection. She was a stunning female, not pixyishly cute like Fiemie or beautiful and tranquil like Tomoyo, no she was fiery and feisty, not only in temperament but in looks. Her hair fell straight and black with a red sheen when not tied in her usual style of chignons on each side of her head with the rest falling down and her eyes were a startling cinnamon color that flashed like fire in the pale creamy skin.

"The book of Clow went missing." Syaoran said softly. "Some believe Nadeshiko stole it."

"I don't believe that." Tomoyo countered. Nadeshiko was her mother's cousin, in other words her family, she would not believe that of one of her own. Tomoyo, for all her obsessive nature when it came to fashion and videotaping various adorable things could be very serious when it came down to things that mattered. Family loyalty was one of those things. She believed that you stuck by your family and the more family, the better. She was very distantly related to Syaoran and Meilin but regarded them as her best friends though there was something lacking maybe because she felt that she was a third wheel because she wasn't as devoted to the Li Clan the way the other two were. She was a smart young woman with ambition to be the best at what she chose to do whether that be designing, singing or film directing. "Why would she give away a valued family treasure?"

"Maybe she didn't." Fiemie jumped in. "What if she didn't want to give it away? Maybe it was taken? And, what exactly do we know of her death?"

"Not much." Syaoran admitted. He hated not knowing things which was why he sought knowledge at all opportunity. "We were all babies when she died."

"So what if she was murdered?" The youngest Li asked cautiously.

"And the man that killed her took the book." Meilin added.

"That would mean the man coming here, Kinomoto Fujitaka would be her murderer." Tomoyo gasped. "Oh my gosh!"

Although Syaoran's expression didn't change, his mind whirled. A murderer in Tomoeda… then he frowned. "What are we, the Famous Five? There's- She wasn't murdered. And Fiemie, if that's what hanging around with Naoko does to you, please stop."

"I like Naoko. She's cool and she's fun and she doesn't let you boss her around."

He sighed as his sister stuck out her tongue and wondered for the thousandth time just how was he related to her. "Look, even if she did take the book, what would be the point? We have the key of Clow and that is needed to open the book."

"Li speaks the truth." Eriol finally spoke up though he had liked the banter about the murderer. It had been amusing. A murderer… yet how much did any of them know about the death of Nadeshiko? She'd been long gone, just a passing name as they'd been growing up. None of them knew her very well yet her death still remained a mystery and there was something strange about it. There was something strange about the man having the Clow Book and coming back here to Tomoeda. It worried the council otherwise they wouldn't have called an emergency meeting. Not for the first time, the young English man wished he was a year older and a member of the council, his guardian - his aunt on his father's side- would tell him nothing, yet she wasn't a vital member of the council. She just served until he was of age but until then she had information he wasn't privy to.

"Hey I think I hear them moving down stairs." Fiemie said getting up and tiptoeing to the open door, closing it quietly so that they wouldn't think they'd been talking about them. "Come on, quick, pull out a board game or something so we look like we've been doing something."

"You're really getting into this spy stuff, aren't you Fiemie?" Tomoyo asked with a grin.

"Well yeah. I loved the Famous Five."

"How did you know about them Li? I thought you didn't know anything about modern culture." Meilin teased.

Syaoran sighed and pointed to his sister. "She made me buy them for her."

Fiemie flashed a grin. "I had a fear of open spaces."

"More like a fear of spending money." came the gruff retort.

"Oh I hear someone calling me. I should go, I'll see you guys at school on Monday."

"Yeah bye Tomoyo."

Tomoyo stepped over Fiemie as the younger girl spread out the Twister mat and organized the cardboard plate with the black pointed. "Here Eriol, you spin and we'll play, right Meilin?"

"Sure. Why not? Wanna try Li?"

"NO."

"Scared my cute descendant?"

"No." came the bored reply.

"He is." Fiemie stated. "You know for all the training he does, he's really not that flexible."

"Right, fine I'll show you who's flexible." Syaoran growled and shoved up the sleeves of his sweater and shirt and kicked off his shoes. "Right so who's first."

"Li-"

"Which Li, Eriol?" Fiemie demanded, cutely blowing her bangs out of her face.

He smiled enigmatically. "Li-kun, left hand red."

* * *

_Well what do you all think? Yes people are going to seem OOC, but think about it, are you the same as you were at the age of ten? Me no think so. And this is actually quite a complex plot, I have the basic outline but I don't have the filling as such which means I'll be as surprised as you guys when everything unravels. _

_Please read this and review, I just really hope you enjoy this. Anything you can help me with will be much obliged. I only have the first film on DVD to refer to and updates will be slow since I have a crap internet connection. _


	2. Pictures speak a 1000 words

**Disclaimer: I don't own CCS. I assure you of that. Any characters you don't recognize are mine of course unless I say so. **

* * *

Sins of our father

By: _Zadien_

* * *

Chapter One

Fujitaka Kinomoto hadn't forgotten the beauty that Tomoeda held but he'd wanted to avoid seeing it again yet now he stood on the balcony of his new home that over looked the green verdant canopy of the forest that crept up the hillside. Mist rose with a certain mystery over the trees in certain places while the brilliant sunshine glistened on the dew drops.

He sipped his coffee and leaned against the wooden rail casting his gaze out at the scenery. It was incredibly beautiful and for a blissful second it removed him from his current worries, letting him indulge in a moment of carefree tranquility. This place brought back so many memories, some of them good and some of them were the most horrible things he lived through. He breathed deeply, scenting the freshness of the air, the moisture and the life that the forests contained. On the other side of the house, the village of Tomoeda could be seen but he wasn't ready to pick out places from his past. Was the house he'd once lived in still there? If so, did someone else live there? A family? Was _her_ house still there? What of her grave?

He shook his head and pushed away the thoughts that plagued him. _She_ was dead and he'd dealt with it. She'd left him one precious gift and because of that, he'd been able to go on and find new meaning to his life.

He was so deep in thought that he didn't realize he was being studied by a woman of great beauty. Her blue eyes were focused solely on him, taking in the broad shoulders, the strong back under a white shirt and narrow hips leading to long legs that were encased in a pair of beige pants. His floppy chestnut brown hair fell into his face and gave him a youthful appearance that took away some of the seriousness when he wasn't smiling. When he smiled though, she thought, she melted. He was a man plagued by his past and by heartbreak but still he retained a gentle caring side that the harshness of his life hadn't taken from him. That, she believed, made him one of the strongest men she knew. He never turned his back and he devoted himself to his family even over the work he adored. He was a good man and he shouldn't have been feeling the way he was.

"You're torturing yourself again, Fujitaka." she said softly as she stepped out of the cool shadows of the house and out into the sun warmed balcony.

He smiled softly, his eyes melancholy behind wire frames. "I'm thinking."

"About Nadeshiko?"

"No, or not much." he reached over and covered her hand with his. "I don't know if I made the right decision, Hitomi."

She nodded knowing what he meant. She couldn't say that he did, she wanted to, but she was scared herself even knowing there was nothing to fear. "They'll be angry with you."

"I was never to blame." he sighed and turned to her, pulling her into his arms. Hitomi Yanagizawa, the one person who had always believed in him. He'd always been close to her and when he'd met Nadeshiko, she'd been the one to urge him to ignore everyone else and make a life with the younger girl. When tragedy struck, she'd been a shoulder to cry on, the one person who hadn't condemned him. But that hadn't been enough for him and he'd left with his family to form a new life away from the heartache of Tomoeda. It had been by fate that they'd met again. She had been in the process of divorcing her husband at the time and they'd met up, renewing their friendship and somewhere along the years that friendship grew to be something more. She knew that Nadeshiko would always be his first love and she understood that because her husband had been her first love until he'd killed her love for him.

His hand moved to the swell of her stomach and smiled. New life, it never ceased to lift his spirits. He'd always wanted lots of children but life had a way of throwing curve balls into his path and he'd lost hope of having anymore after his last but now, seventeen years later, he was about to have another one. The baby was a reason he was back here in this godforsaken town, but it wasn't the main one.

"I know you weren't to blame. But they will be furious. Do you think you made the right decision to come back? They'll try to take the book."

"Doesn't matter if they do." he said firmly. "None of them will be able to open it even with the key."

"Not even Eriol? He is the reincarnation of Clow Reed."

"Half the reincarnation. And no, the staff will no longer respond to them. Nadeshiko knew that, she saw the future and the cards are not for them."

"They're for her." Hitomi nodded remembering her friends' strikingly accurate ability to predict the future. "But what if they try to take your daughter from you? She has Nadeshiko's blood in her, Sonomi will try to claim her from you."

"I know. It is what has been foretold but Sakura will always be my daughter. They may train her but first they must accept her; that is what I'm worried about."

Hitomi nibbled her lip. "They will. She looks so much like her mother; it surprised me to see her the first time. She doesn't have Nadeshiko's grace or striking beauty, but she has her warmth, her sweetness and honesty. Sonomi will recognize that and that's what I'm afraid of. What if they turn Sakura from you?" she demanded urgently.

"It's a risk I have to take. It's Sakura's destiny to come here and claim it and I promised Nadeshiko I would come back." he smiled ruefully. "I've just been delaying my return."

She patted his hand and smiled when he turned his hand to enclose hers. "I worry about how much danger you and Sakura will be putting yourself into. She's so young with her whole life ahead of her. What happens if-" she broke off when he placed a finger over her mouth.

"Don't let us think of such things. We're here for a fresh start, to build a family and I won't have this town tarnishing this for us. The council knows I'm here, they know I have the book but they will not stop us from living our lives."

"But how can we live our lives like a normal family when we have this hanging over us. Shouldn't we tell Sakura?"

"No, it's best that she doesn't know until she needs to. I want her to have as much of a normal life as she can."

Hitomi snorted. "That's not very likely in this town." She crossed to the round breakfast table and poured herself a glass of orange juice. "I hope she doesn't get in any trouble. She's a good girl, you raised her well."

Fujitaka smiled softly. "With Touya's help." he replied, referring to his son, Sakura's half brother.

He glanced down at the sound of pounding footsteps and watched a young figure run off the road and into their back yard being led by a small black spaniel. "Naoko's back."

Hitomi frowned brushing her black hair over her shoulder. "She only left five minutes ago. She couldn't be back yet."

They both listened as her daughter's footsteps sounded on the wooden steps leading to the balcony. When she reached the summit, she glanced around at them surprised. "Morning." she greeted cheerfully, crossing to the table and lifting a triangle slice of toast. Sitting down, she buttered it and then looked up at them. "Is there something wrong?"

"No sweetheart." Hitomi said with a smile. "How was your morning walk?"

Naoko frowned, pausing in the act of spreading fruit flavored jam over her toast. "The weirdest thing happened, actually." she bit the inside of her cheek. "I was walking up past the Kon residence and Orion refused to let me walk any further. It was really strange. One minute we were walking and just as I was about to pass the lane up to their house, he walked in front of me and stopped me from moving forward. When I stopped, he jumped on me and started whining. Something was bothering him quite a lot. He really seemed to be disturbed." A shudder ran down her spine as her mind tried to come up with as many ideas as possible as to why the dog refused to let her walk past the lane. "It's almost as though he was warning me about something."

Hitomi exchanged a bemused glance with Fujitaka. Naoko was always trying to see the supernatural in the completely natural. Yes Naoko had magick, she was a very distant relative of the Li family and she could summon up the smallest of powers but she never sensed things very strongly. She had the ability to see and converse with ghosts, not like Yelan who commanded the spirits, to Naoko the ghosts were very real and often came to her without her bidding. She had no control over them. It wasn't magick though that she tried to see, it was usually things such as Vampires, Werewolves, black magick or some sort of evil in some form, she was obsessed with fantasy beings of myth and Hollywood and murder. It was an unhealthy fad that Hitomi had hoped her daughter would grow out of but unfortunately Naoko seemed to be stuck in it.

"Maybe he was." Fujitaka said. "You know, animals have very keen senses. They often sense disturbances in the atmosphere long before humans do."

"Oh I know. That's why I think they're so incredible." she gushed, before sinking her teeth in to her slice of toast, tucking a strand of chestnut hair behind her decorated ear. Since she hadn't been allowed to pierce any other part of her body, Naoko had taken out her frustration on her ears. Now there were two rings on her upper ear and two studs on her lobes.

"Is Sakura still asleep?" Hitomi wondered looking back into the house.

Fujitaka turned to Naoko. "Did she sleep last night at all?"

The younger girl nodded. "She was restless but I suppose that has to do with sleeping in a different room. She doesn't have to get up for another half hour or so, so I'll go walk Titan and then I'll wake her up when I get back."

"Thank you Naoko." he replied with genuine gratitude. He had been worried about uprooting Sakura and bringing her so far away from Touya whom she had an incredibly close bond with. This whole move was going to be so hard on her, she was going to be pulled into a world he wasn't sure she was ready for, but he hoped that Naoko would be able to help her through it. Being incredibly intelligent girls with bright and thirsty young minds, coupled with personable attitudes and a need to help people, Naoko and Sakura had instantly hit it off. They did have their differences but he believed that they would teach each other and in turn grow into adulthood. Or so he hoped.

"It's really no problem." she replied softly and sincerely. She excused herself from the table, bending down to peck her mothers' cheek and laying a hand on Fujitaka's shoulder, she headed back down the stairs.

The sun was spilling through the tree leaves adding a dappled effect to the concrete path around the side of the house. She approached the kennel smiling when she heard the whine from behind the door. Unlatching the door, she pushed it open and stood back to let the big fearsome Alsatian bound out of the dark closed space. He darted out and began to sniff at the grass bordering the path. Keeping a wary eye on her pet, she slipped a hand into the kennel and felt along the wall, catching a hold of the strong woven rope. Curling it around her hand, she locked up the kennel and turned back to the cream and black dog.

"Titan!" she called for him, kneeling when he padded over to her and licked her palm as she tried to find the catch on his collar. She squirmed when his wet nose nuzzled the side of her face. "I'm glad to see you too Titan, now hold on while I do this, ok?"

Sometimes she wondered if the dogs understood her, they seemed to have an eerie ability to tell what she was thinking and how she was feeling yet she couldn't understand them and wouldn't it be so cool if she could? It would be much better than the ghosts she had to deal with, they were never quite satisfied with her attempts to help them. Her trip to Tokyo had exhausted her, so many murder victims, so many suspicious deaths, it had drained her. At least the dead people in Tomoeda were securely transported to the next place by the necromancers and the priestesses such as Kaho Mizuki. Her magick was basically moot here.

She sighed and slipped the leash onto him before leading him down the path and out onto the shaded road.

Beneath the shade of the trees, it was cool and fresh. The leaves rustled under the slight breeze, bending to its will without a qualm, the greens looking so vivid against the soft wet blue of the sky.

Taking a deep breath, she blew it out slowly and the calm expression she'd been wearing for her mother fell away. Her hand pressed against her gut and she chewed on her lip. Something was wrong. A feeling was weighing heavily on her, it had been bothering her since the night before and now had escalated to a dull pain in her gut almost similar to a blunt period cramp but she wasn't due for her period, no this was a feeling, an intuition that something was going to happen. It was all going to kick off; she knew that much and it all revolved around the young girl that was sharing her room.

This worried Naoko. She knew her mother was worried about something, she had walked into rooms that you would need a chainsaw to cut the tension in. But for the life of her, Naoko couldn't figure out what was wrong.

Yes, they were going to have a baby… didn't Fujitaka want one? No it seemed that he definitely wanted the child, the look of joy on his face when her mother had told him couldn't have been faked. Maybe Sakura didn't want a brother or sister… Nope, she had been ecstatic about it too and Sakura couldn't fake emotion, her face was far too expressive. Besides, Naoko figured Sakura would certainly make a better older sister than she herself would. Animals and books were Naoko's forte, ask her to find a needle in the library and she could do it but babies were another matter.

She was happy for her mother, her mother had always wanted another child but well, her father hadn't been prime parenting material. He had ran off with his floozy first time he could and they heard nothing from him since, though sometimes he sent Naoko presents that cost a lot but were completely thoughtless, what would a punk loving bookworm like Naoko do with concert tickets for the latest boy band? Well, she had sold them on E-bay and made enough to take her friends away for the weekend last summer which had been great, but all the same, that wasn't the point.

She had come to rely on no one but herself and she took care of her mother and she'd take care of the baby too. But it was nice to know that there was someone else for her mother to rely on. Fujitaka seemed to genuinely love her mother, even though he'd loved his wife too but love was an odd thing. Sometimes you could be sure you loved someone passionately but then some girl in a short skirt flashes her panties and off you run leaving a loving wife and a baby and then sometimes you could find a sweet love with a friend that you hadn't been expecting. It was like her mother said, if you didn't go looking for love it would come to you and Naoko lived by that. She didn't look for someone to love her, she was happy to be single until love came to her. Even if it didn't, she wouldn't be too cut up. You couldn't miss something you'd never experienced and through books you could live so many things without the risks of pain.

"Titan, heel." she snapped, jerking her hand back. Sometimes she really wondered who walked who, Titan or her? She frowned and blew wisps of russet hair out of her eyes and with a toss of her head, moved her bangs out of her solid brown eyes and glanced around her. There were birds chirping and twittering excitedly to each other while others swooped and glided above her gathering their morning meal.

After walking a good bit, she reached the spot where she usually turned around and headed back home again. She stopped to let Titan wander about a bit, sniffing here and there and marking various places. Every time he tugged on the leash, she let it out further until she held just the end knot. She took in the landscape. It was so colorful compared to the gray of Tokyo with the red and white tower merging from it like a bridge between heaven and earth. She'd only visited Tokyo once when she'd been younger on a school trip and even though the hustle and bustle appealed to her, she didn't think she could live there. It was too crowded for her, it would only suffocate her.

"Up the stairs, the station where the act becomes the art of growing up…" She sang softly before wincing as her arm was nearly yanked out of her socket. "Ouch, Titan."

She stumbled after him as he led her up a side road off the main one and she hissed when she realized where she was going. "Oh no, stop Titan. I don't want to go up here."

She would have laughed if she'd heard herself. She was beginning to sound like her friends when she'd been trying to get them to visit a haunted house with her. For some reason they didn't like ghosts nearly as much as she did, which she really couldn't understand because ghosts were cool to a degree, they had a mystic to them that appealed to her even if they could be rude and bossy. But wouldn't you be upset if you found you were still remaining after your death? She hadn't many experiences with ghosts in Tomoeda, the only vivid one being when she was only four. All she remembered was talking to a very nice and pretty lady who her mother claimed had never been there. She'd talked to that woman for a good couple of months about nothing much, before the woman simply didn't come anymore. Maybe that was her first interaction with them. She didn't know. However she was curious as to who that woman was. She tried to research but with her weak memories she hadn't been very successful.

But the house that was beginning to loom over her wasn't haunted and if so, certainly not by friendly pretty ladies. Oh no, not this house, nothing nice and pretty lived here… well possibly pretty but definitely not nice!

"Titan." she hissed glancing around the quiet courtyard. "We can't be here, I'm trespassing."

"Indeed you are Naoko." a voice filled with laughter said behind her.

She winced and smothered a colorful curse, before turning around and trying to maintain her composure. "I'm very sorry Fa." she said simply. She didn't look at him, but stared fixedly at his brand name sneakers with the school pants just rumpled over them.

Fa Ashitaka choked back his annoyance at the way she referred to him. No they weren't friends, never had been ever since he'd chosen to pick on her when they'd been younger. She'd seemed like an easy target, she was a mouse of a girl, shy and only opened up to people she trusted but those trusted people were a strong group of friends and through them and the leaving of her father, she became stronger and started to not care what people like him thought of her. Over the years he'd watched her blossom into a proud and intelligent young woman.

She wasn't strikingly beautiful, she was too plain and ordinary -with the straight brown hair, cream skin and almond shaped brown eyes- to be eye catching but then she'd smile or her eyes would light up passionately when she was talking about something she loved. Her whole face could instantly transform and that intrigued him as did the suspicion that always flitted into the backs of her eyes when people especially males that she didn't know or trust took an interest in her. She was a cautious creature but was capable of warmth when people mattered. He'd often watched her walking her dogs or her dogs walking her which usually seemed the case but trying to talk to her was like trying to get blood from a stone. She was constantly polite but stiffly so, in a way that told him that she wasn't enjoying the encounter one bit and was only enduring him until something better came along. For someone like Ashitaka who was use to girls being reduced to dithering wrecks around him, it was a blow to the ego when she treated him like he was nothing more than an annoying fly.

"It's not a problem Naoko." he smothered a smirk when her head shot up and he caught the blaze of temper in her very brown eyes.

She bit her tongue in an effort not to snap at him. Only her friends called her by her first name, it was a matter of manners yet when had Fa ever obeyed typical etiquette? She breathed in and looked at Titan who was now sniffing around Fa instead of growling fiercely. For all of Titan's big looks and sharp teeth, he was the epitome of the gentle giant and Orion who was petite and friendly looking had a habit of snapping at people's ankles. She did have to own the oddest dogs, she had once entertained the notion that aliens had come and switched their personalities.

As Fa shifted to a crouch and began to stroke her dog she clenched her fists. His coal black hair glinted in the sunshine; it was spiked in its usual style, not a hair out of place. His black eyes, when they lifted to meet hers were bright with mischief. She felt the instantaneous jolt and managed to conceal the gasp that tried to pass through her lips as her stomach hopped. Without realizing it, her scowl deepened and caused him to flash a grin at her, his teeth very white against his dark bronzed skin. She felt shabby next to him since he was in the school uniform, the white shirt reflecting the sunlight almost blindingly, it was rolled up at the sleeves with two buttons opened at the throat revealing smooth tanned skin. His pants were pressed and clean and although he wore his sneakers, he looked every inch of the school nobility he was. She on the other hand was wearing faded jeans and a hooded sweatshirt, her usual attire when walking the dogs, nothing very glamorous but why did she care about what she looked like? This was Fa, the boy who made her life hell just because he was more popular than she was.

"Come on Titan, we have to go." she clicked her tongue and the dogs ears perked up and he glanced at her before padding over to her.

"I'll see you at school then, Naoko."

She simply feigned a smile before leading Titan back down the lane, breaking into a slow trot when she caught sight of the time. "Oh, we're going to be late."

Ashitaka watched her going and shoved his hands into his pockets, pursing his lips in contemplation. He would make her see him as something other than the arrogant brat who'd falsely deemed himself worthy to put a dent in her self confidence. With one last glance at her retreating figure, he turned and headed back into the house to finish getting ready to school.

* * *

The sun pushed against the reluctantly retreating darkness of Sakura's subconscious and with a final shove, she snapped her eyes open and blinked startled. For a few seconds of disorientation she couldn't remember where she was and then it slowly began to come back. She was in her new home, in Tomoeda with her father and with her new family to be. Her father hadn't proposed to Hitomi yet but that wasn't far off now that the baby was on the way.

She yawned cutely and turned her gaze to the empty bed on the other side of the room. Naoko's bed. It wasn't made, still a tangled mess with her night clothes strewn over it. With a sigh, Sakura rolled onto her back. She was going to school today, a school she didn't know, and the only student she knew was Naoko. It was a daunting experience and she was nervous, her heart kept jumping nervously and there was a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach but she didn't let that get her down. She had Naoko and that was more than most people had when moving to another school but if she was honest, she could admit that she missed her brother Touya.

Tossing off her sheets, she stretched and glanced at the clock on her shelf that she'd remembered to unpack at the last minute the previous night. It was odd to be here, she supposed. It wasn't anything like her old home, the apartment she and her father had shared right in the center of Tokyo. This place for one was so silent and the scenery so pretty, she thought as she opened the curtains and soaked in the sun. But what was the school like? She hadn't asked Naoko because she hadn't wanted a biased opinion, she liked forming her own opinions on everything and everyone, and after all, everything was never what it seemed on the outside. She hadn't had time to explore Tomoeda either since she and her father had just arrived the day before yesterday. They were supposed to come to Tomoeda the week before so that Sakura could have a week to settle in before school began but unfortunately her friend had fallen ill and she hadn't wanted to leave until she was sure her friend was ok. So now she was being thrown in the deep end as far as school was concerned but she could handle it.

She walked out into the bathroom and turned on the hot water, locking the door behind her and shedding her clothes. The light in the bathroom was blue from the sky's reflection, completely unlike the beige one in her old apartment. The wood was dark and the décor green making it look like a jungle. She liked the whole house, it was so big and Naoko said they could decorate the room in whatever way they wanted to so that it would feel more like Sakura's room too, though pink was out of the question. Despite it being one of Sakura's favorite colors, Naoko had ruled it out because she thought it was too girlish for a teenage girl's room. So they settled for a pale lemon with green because they were the colors the two girls agreed on.

They sure were a clash of opposites, Sakura thought, as the hot water ran down her skin. Naoko was so confident and brash but that was to hide an insecure girl inside. Sakura didn't have the suspicion that Naoko carried around with her. She liked people and adored children. She had always craved people's friendship and it hurt her to see others in pain, she knew Naoko felt the same when it came to animals. There had been a softness to the punkish girl when it came to her dogs that she referred to as her babies, it had been amusing. Sakura smiled to herself as she poured a liberal amount of shampoo into her palm and worked it into her soft honey brown hair.

She also liked the way Naoko was so protective of her mother, the bond they shared made Sakura envious. She knew about Naoko's father and so she could understand Naoko's reasoning for being so protective of her mother, but it wasn't just because the man of the house left, they'd have had that bond anyway. Sakura's mother died a long time ago; she'd only been a few months old when her mother died. She couldn't remember her and there were only a few pictures of her mother around the house. Her father had never divulged how her mother had died and Sakura had always wanted to know but she'd never told her father that. She liked Hitomi, the woman was the closest thing Sakura had ever had to a mother, but still, she would have liked to know something about her mother so that she could feel that she did know her. At the moment, Nadeshiko Daidouji seemed like a stranger. How could she grieve for a woman she barely knew? Every time she brought up her mother to her father, he looked so sad that she couldn't bring herself to press him. She knew that she could find out more when she was older, but for the past several years she'd been telling herself that but she'd put it off because she hadn't wanted to hurt her father by going behind his back.

Still this was the woman who had carried her? When told she had died, Sakura had simply accepted that because she'd only been young but as she grew older and began to understand more about death and illness, she'd become more curious. Simply put that she died wasn't enough anymore. Did her mother die of cancer? If she did could Sakura have the same genes? Or was it a heart condition? She couldn't have just died; she was a young, healthy woman from what Sakura could tell from the photographs dotted here and there in the old apartment. Death wasn't natural, not to someone so young so what had happened to Nadeshiko that had caused her to leave the world with a daughter and loving husband behind?

Until she knew about her mother, how could she rid herself of this emptiness that had wormed away at the corner of her heart? It was aching to be filled with something; something that Sakura could feel was so near.

Turning off the water, Sakura stepped out and wrapped a towel around her. Lost in thought, she didn't remember leaving the bathroom or the journey to her room. She clicked back into gear when she heard voices outside. Not bothering to listen in, she headed to her wardrobe and took out the school uniform Hitomi had got her. The move had been planned for a long time, maybe that was why it didn't feel quite as odd as she'd expected, it was an easy transition but still, she missed her friends. She missed Touya!

Although he was only her half brother, they'd been brought up together and they were siblings in every sense. He was six years older than her and a pain most of the time but she loved him dearly for his protective nature even as it bothered her. It was hard to have a boyfriend when all the boys were scared of her big brother. Touya's mother had abandoned him shortly after he was born, leaving him to be raised by his father saying she wasn't ready to be a mother. It was odd, for such a kind and caring man, Sakura surmised wryly; he sure had a hard time holding on to a woman but did well, children wise, out of the encounters.

She studied the uniform and wrinkled her nose. A navy and white short sleeved sailor top with a royal blue bow, a navy plaid skirt and white socks. It was certainly more stylish than what she'd once worn but it made her nostalgic for hanging out with her friends and laughing as they complained about it.

She jolted as a high pitched tune rang out from somewhere inside the room. Puzzled, she wandered to where she heard the sound coming. A box, still taped up was sitting in the corner of the room, obviously still unpacked. With a soft '_hoe_' she lifted her manicure kit that was sitting on the vanity chest. Plucking out the small pair of scissors, she began to hack at the tape. The tune was gone by the time she yanked the box open and she sighed forlornly. It might have been Touya. She lifted the box over to her bed and began to look through it. There wasn't much in it, just her old year books and a few trinkets. She sighed when she came across her address book and tugged out her cell phone, though how it came to be in there she did not know. She was about to place the box away when she realized that it wasn't empty. She delved in and pulled out the last object and when she brought it into the light, she frowned at it.

It was a thick book, almost like a diary, with a red intricate cover with gold decoration. On the front was the most bizarre picture of a fierce lion's face and on the back a symbol of some sort. She laid it on her bed and stared at it. This wasn't hers, she'd never seen it before yet somehow it came to be in her things. "Hoe…" she murmured softly. It was ancient looking and there was just something about it that pulled at her.

She lifted it onto its side and was dismayed to see that it was locked and needed what looked to be a key to open it. Shifting into a kneeling position, she began to search the box for the key, thinking it couldn't be too far from the book. Who would lose a key to a book that looked so important, there had to be important things in it… what if that was her mother's diary? It looked like a diary and it was old…

Disappointed by the lack of key like objects, she sat down and watched it again. The eyes seem to look right back at her, almost eerily but she felt nothing malevolent about it. Of course she wouldn't, it was an inanimate object, just a very intriguing inanimate object. Compelled to, she reached out her hand to it and placed her palm on the front of it before jerking it back as though burned. An electrical current had shot up her arm at the touch and it filled her with a warm glowing feeling. Strange. It almost felt as though something had been unlocked…

"Sakura?"

"Hoe!" she yelped and immediately covered the book not understanding why she had. She just felt she should.

Naoko walked into the room breathless from her run. She yanked the band out of her hair and blew out a breath. "Wow, that weather sure has changed out there." she mumbled, then looked to the girl on the bed. "Hey you should go down and get some breakfast in you or we're going to be late. I'm going to get a shower, ok?"

Sakura nodded jerkily. "Sure." she managed a weak smile for her friend; then remembered something. "Oh Naoko, I was thinking, maybe I could help you walk your dogs from now on. That way it'll be done faster and you won't need to wake up so early."

Naoko thought over the proposition and found it favorable. She smiled and nodded. "Ok then, thanks."

"It's really no bother at all. We couldn't keep pets in the apartment so I have no idea what it's like to keep a dog but I wouldn't mind learning from you."

"That's great Sakura. Thanks a bunch." She grabbed the rest of her stuff off the vanity and strode towards the bathroom.

As soon as Naoko left the room, Sakura turned back to the book. It seemed to sing with power and she could feel wave after wave of golden energy pulsing. Touching it, she gasped at the feeling of warmth that began to ebb and grow inside her, like a heart beat in her solar plexus, like a ball of pulsating light. With a sudden explosion, her eyes snapped open and she sucked in a breath as the golden light began to trickle through her veins like molten gold, syrupy and thick and felt oh so good!

A sudden bang caught her attention as the large windows swung open, shoved in by an invisible fist. They slammed off the wall and she screamed in shock as the wind forced its way in, the whirlwind catching papers and magazines and tossing them around in a chaotic mess as though searching for something.

Swallowing her initial fear, Sakura pushed her way through the strong wind and grabbed the doors, pressing them back into place with all of her might. When she heard the satisfied click, she locked the door and gazed out at the blustering wind outside. Leaves were being blown around carelessly while the trees swayed dangerously. The sun that had been shining warmly had been engulfed by swirling black clouds that had lightning dancing like spasms through them. Rain spat down at the ground like rows of chilly pellets to soak the road.

"Hoe, Naoko wasn't wrong." she murmured.

She turned back to the book that seemed to be calling out for her, reaching and winding its tendrils around her. Biting her lip hard, she looked away from it. She needed to get ready for school. It wouldn't do to be late for her first day, the rest of the days however, were fair game, she supposed. Still… her eyes slid slyly back to the book that sat innocently on her bed. She was curious about the book and its strange aura, was that the right word? She couldn't even be sure of the right word for the electrical field surrounding it. Aura gave it a magical link that she wasn't sure she was ready to deal with. It was better to treat it as a strange old book that gave people who touched it a strange shock due to static electricity. Yes, that sounded much more manageable and it wasn't scary at all.

With a sigh, she plucked up her satchel from the corner and, worrying her lower lip, she tentatively slipped the book into her bag after covering it with a protective cloth to stop herself from receiving anymore shocks. There, that was much better. She'd feel safer knowing it was with her, though she was unsure how safe it was in her bag, still this was the best that she could do.

Nodding her head determinedly, she began to get dressed for school before turning her attention to something less worrying, such as her hair. She wasn't the type to fuss over her looks; beauty was in the eye of the beholder and all those clichés. When she was younger, she'd chopped it all off because a boy in her class kept tugging on it. As she became older she let it grow but someone's careless comment about how much she looked like her mother that way and her own worry about how that might affect her father had caused her to cut it short again, only giving it more style so that it framed her face yet was still long enough to tie back in a short tail. The best thing was that it was easy to manage, all she had to do was blow dry it and brush it, and it fell into place like magick.

She was just tying her hair back when Naoko bustled back into the room, eyes fixed on the lenses she was wiping. She looked up as Sakura shifted past her.

"Hey, haven't you gotten your breakfast yet?"

Sakura shook her head. "No not yet. I'm going down now."

"Oh ok. I'll see you down there."

Sakura nodded. Her eyes fell on the book. What if Naoko happened to look in it? Making a quick decision, she lifted the bag and darted out of the room leaving a bewildered Naoko behind her.

* * *

Tomoeda High School had once been the grand ancestral home of the Clow Sorcerer before he died. It was infused with magick and the ley lines that ran through it were a great power source. They were like electrical currents that could be tapped into to boost a person's natural power or spell at any given time. It was a great spot to teach students how to tap into their inner strength as the ley lines and the runes built into the woodwork helped heighten them. Once they were able to feel and identify the power within them, it was easier for them to use it wherever they needed it. Of course the wards within the walls were able to stop the magick and power from being used for evil or self gain. Most senior students felt that the wards were simply a faster version of the Three fold spell and each had tried to find a way around it, it was almost like a tradition except none of them ever succeeded and the last to try had to be healed for an entire week due to burns that would heal only to reappear over night. Whatever else was said about Clow Reed, he certainly knew how to use his magick to the best of his ability.

Syaoran Li agreed with this statement. Though, the fact that technology had been pulled into the home of the great sorcerer must have been a slap to the face. A great insult. Magick and Science had never gone well together. Yet, he thought as he sat up in the great tree that stood in the corner near the wall, Clow Reed was well known for his eclectic taste. He had never been one to just follow one trend but tended to mix many of them to his own amusement. Maybe that was why he'd been so powerful. He'd never limited himself to just one area. Perhaps that was progression, the ability to merge two seemingly different styles to produce a more effective style.

He leaned back against the sturdy trunk and draped a hand over his bent leg while the other dangled happily. However on saying that, he liked the structure of tradition. With tradition you were following the rules of others who had succeeded and you were never plotting a course for yourself. Another part of him rebelled against even that. He didn't want to be following another's path even as he found some security in it. He was the chosen one; he would represent the Li's in the council when his mother was ready to give up her seat, though that wouldn't be for a long time. She was good at her job and while he was waiting he could be off exploring the world, unfortunately he was being confined to Tomoeda. It wouldn't do, everyone said, for him to be off gallivanting around the world where they wouldn't be able to contact him should they need him.

He blew out a breath. He wanted to see the world. He wanted to see America, to learn from the Native American Indians. He wanted to travel Europe and converse with the Romany gypsies. Their curses were rivaled by none. They didn't use the boils and warts curses that most witches did, they actually thought about what would truly punish them and make wrong does see their mistakes. They were probably the ones who came up with the idea of making someone relive a day over and over again until they learnt the lesson. He wanted to be taught by the Druid priests of Ireland. Visit Stonehenge in England to bask in the magick that flowed through the stones. Of course those dreams were nothing more than that, dreams and he was better to forget about them because they were pointless.

"Morning Syao." a voice called cheerfully up to him.

Ready to tell whoever it was to leave him alone, he looked down the sharp retort forming on his tongue only to melt away. "Morning Tomoyo."

"Mind giving me a hand up?"

Stretching down, he clasped her hand and easily boosted her up onto the branch beside him. She blew out a breath.

"Ooh, your morning practices really come in handy." she commented as she arranged her skirt around her and began to unpack her palmcorder. "Gosh it's cold out there and but at least the storms died down."

He closed his eyes as he listened to her rustling, ready to catch her should she lean too far from the branch. It had only happened once before but all the same it was better to be ready for the unexpected than to let it creep up on you and catch you unawares.

She sighed happily. "I love the first day back. Everyone is so full of energy, they all but burn with it."

"Still trying to develop a program to see people with their auras without distorting them?" he asked curiously.

"Mm-hmm. I mean if you can see colored aura's outlining people I don't see why technology can't."

"Because they haven't stared at a white wall for an entire summer." he muttered dryly.

A quiet chuckle had his lips quirking almost imperceptibly. Although he loved his family dearly and Meilin was one of his closest friends, Tomoyo was the one person who knew his thoughts. He felt he could be open with her. She never put the pressures of being the Li clan chosen one on him, she only saw him as Syaoran, the boy who had comforted her awkwardly at her 6th birthday party because her father had forgotten it. They'd both been mature for their age and they understood each other and most of all, they respected each other in what they'd done.

"I had that dream again."

"Of the girl?"

He nodded. "Still can't see her properly, but it was more vivid." he didn't look at her as he spoke, simply continued to watch the clusters of students talking and greeting each other amicably. He could see Fiemie laughing with a group of her friends who hung on her every word. Sometimes he wondered was it simply because she was a Li that they crowded around her and took her word as gospel, but having actually overheard them talking once, he realized they were just as susceptible to Fiemie's charm and ability to draw people to her.

"So you still don't recognize her?"

He shook his head, the bangs falling into his brandy eyes so that he had to sweep them away tousling his hair further. "No, but I know I'd recognize her. I'd recognize her aura; it's the most vibrant color I've ever seen."

Intrigued, she looked at him. "You've never seen her aura before. What color is it?"

"Pink."

This time she grinned at his roll of his eyes. "Of course, you would be attracted to a girl with a pink aura."

"Bright pink."

Now she laughed. "Poor Li. Do you think she's powerful?"

He nodded, eyes still distant as though he was still seeing the girl in his dreams.

"So, marry her for her magick then drop her for being vain and ditzy." she chuckled and leaned away from his mock swipe.

"Yeah, we can do her away and bury her in the garden before me and you get married."

"Li?" she asked surprised, her eyes widening in hope, stars beginning to shine. "Are you proposing? Because if you are, I have the cutest little tux for you. Of course I made it for your twelfth birthday -remember you ran away to the great forest to fight that spirit- but I'm sure I could make a few altercations and I look beautiful in my wedding dress and Meilin can be a bridesmaid and our babies will be the cutest things…" she trailed off at his aghast expression. "Oh were you kidding? Shucks." she muttered with a snap of her fingers.

His lips twitched and he tucked his tongue into his cheek. He refused to be amused but after a second or so a reluctant half smile curled his lips.

"Ah that's better." she commented with a grin. He always looked so lost and adorable when he was upset; it made her want to cuddle him. But since if she did that, he'd shove her out of the tree, she'd end up injuring herself. It was just safer to take his mind of things.

"Tomoyo, you're a strange girl."

"The strangest." she agreed, toying with her camcorder. "Oh Rika's cut her hair. It's adorable."

"Hmm."

"Right, hairstyles are not your forte."

"What's wrong with my hair?" he demanded defensively, raking his fingers through it so that little pieces stuck up here and there.

She simply smiled and leaned over to ruffle it much to his annoyance. A chuckle bubbled out of her mouth as he furiously tried to tame it again. "Oh," she gasped. "I just remembered." Hoisting her bag onto her lap, she began to root through it.

"Please don't tell me you have an outfit for me to wear in there." he almost whined.

Elementary school for him had been an absolute nightmare. Tomoyo had always been trying to dress him up as her own personal Ken doll. She had never even been put off by his dark menacing looks, even when he practiced making them darker she had only chuckled before shoving him into her personal changing room. Tomoyo's room was like the clothes department in the mall, it was the scariest room he'd ever been in and even now he refused to go in. The furthest he went into her house was the kitchen and living room and that was it.

"Don't be silly. We have a uniform that's mandatory."

And thank the gods for that, he thought peering curiously over her shoulder. "So where's Meilin?"

"I don't know. I think she's talking to Chiharu about cheerleading this year. She is next in line to be captain, I think but they're having tryouts anyway."

"Oh."

"Here we are." she exclaimed triumphantly as she fished something from her bag and waved it exuberantly in front of Syaoran's face.

"What is it?" he asked as he took the rectangular package from her.

"Pictures."

"If they're naked women I don't want to see them."

"Really?" She quirked a brow.

"The only naked women you know are my family." he deadpanned.

She grinned then sobered. "Why would I show you photo's of naked women?"

"I didn't think Yamazaki would either. Shows how wrong I was." he muttered then froze, his mouth going dry as his breathing shallowed as his heart began to beat faster. "Nadeshiko." he whispered as he stared down at the beautiful woman with the verdant eyes.

Tomoyo nodded solemnly. "I was looking for photos of her in case any of them had a picture of the man but none of them did. She looked so happy didn't she? I don't think she stole the book Syaoran. Look how close she is to your mother and mine. She would never betray them."

He moved through them, taking in the companionable way the three women, no girls, they couldn't have been much older than him maybe the same age as Fiemie, were hugging each other and smiling for the camera. There was one with Nadeshiko, his mother and his father; they were kissing his cheek while he blushed and another with Sonomi and Nadeshiko dressed in prom dresses looking nervously happy. He felt a lump rise in his throat. She looked so happy, so full of life. What had happened to this woman? Why didn't his mother know?

"By my reckoning," Tomoyo's soft voice broke through his thoughts. "that one was taken the night she died."

His head snapped up to look at her. "What makes you say that?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. Something just tells me that." she chuckled softly. "That sounds stupid, but… It just does."

He nodded. "You should trust your instincts Tomoyo; they will never lead you wrong."

She smiled but it didn't reach her eloquent eyes. It was upsetting her as much as it was upsetting him and he wasn't related to her. He sighed and put an arm around her shoulder. She rested her head on his shoulder and quietly looked at the face of the woman whose life had been taken without any reasoning.

Placing a brotherly kiss on her head, he made a vow. "We'll find out what happened to her, I promise you that Tomoyo."

"Thank you, Syaoran."

They lapsed into comfortable silence, the lively voices and laughter from the quad could barely be heard at all. It was almost as though a bubble of silence had been erected around them until-

"Hey Love birds, get down here or help me up! No actually come down here, I'm in a skirt and I'm nowhere near lady like enough not to flash someone."

Tomoyo chuckled looking down at the irate Meilin who was rubbing her arms frantically to keep in the heat. "Come up here Mei, it's lovely and snug."

"Wouldn't want to intrude. I know how you love birds get."

"We're not love birds."

"Oh but I do love you Syaoran. Don't you love me?"

"I love you too Syaoran!"

"He loves me more than he loves you." Tomoyo retorted, blowing a very un-Tomoyo like raspberry.

"Alright I'm coming down." Syaoran muttered; getting to his feet and with ease, he flipped to the ground, his ears beginning to burn as the two girls whooped and cheered. The words 'My big strong man' was said by one of them and had the blush creeping up his neck.

"Shut up." he mumbled as he helped Tomoyo climb down, ready to catch her should she fall.

"See Meilin, he loves me more." Tomoyo teased, hugging Syaoran and only tightening her grip when he tried to disentangle her.

Meilin's eyes narrowed. "I want to touch him." She pinched his bicep and almost doubled over with laughter when his eyes bugged out and his face burned brightly.

Shrugging them both off, he stalked off muttering something about 'cackling old hags' which luckily the two giddy girls didn't hear. He was so busy ranting at them that he didn't notice the girl he crashed into, nor did he hear her startled gasp, nor did he feel the flurry of sparks that coursed up his arm from the skin that touched hers but she did.

* * *

Sakura thanked Naoko for steadying her and frowned after the boy who'd so roughly shoved her out of his way as she rubbed her prickling arm. It was the strangest sensation, almost like a contaminate coursing through her bloodstream up her arm numbing it slightly, only it was pleasurable. She shook her head. She must still have been feeling strange from the old book that was burning a hole in her satchel.

"Naoko, who was that?"

Naoko paused from wiping the lenses of her glasses and looked in the direction that Sakura was motioning. Realizing that she didn't have her glasses on, she slipped them on and focused on the disappearing back of Li.

"Syaoran Li or Li to his friends and everyone else for that matter. He's on the soccer team and is in the top 5 of the class."

"And the two screaming girls are his fan club?" Sakura asked.

"Oh no, the dark… the one with the chignons is his cousin Li Meilin, she's most likely going to be Cheer captain this year and the other is Tomoyo Daidouji, she is top of the class."

"Li's girlfriend?"

"People always wonder that because they're very close but no, they're just friends. Have been since they were six. But sometimes I think he makes people think that so they'll leave him alone, ya know, he's the most eligible guy in the school simply because he's a Li. He's good looking and smart but most girls just see that he's a Li."

"That's something important."

Naoko smiled as she sighed. "Ah, Sakura you have a lot to learn. The Li's are a very influential family. They're descended from Clow himself."

"Wow." Though why this Clow fellow was such a big deal, Sakura wasn't sure. Maybe they worshipped him because he had found the small valley they lived in, yet that wouldn't explain why, when she looked up Tomoeda on a map, she couldn't find it. There wasn't even anything about it on the internet. There was just something slightly strange about Tomoeda and its residents and she really wanted to find out just what that was.

"Mm-hmm. Oh come on, I have some people for you to meet."

"Naoko, can I ask another question?" Sakura suddenly voiced as she looked around her.

"Sure." Noticing her pointed looks at the people around them, Naoko nodded. "Oh yeah, well see, you're going to be big news. The last new kid came here around three years ago and they're calling him the new kid."

Sakura paused, eyes wide. "Oh. Back in Tokyo, we had a lot of new students every semester someone seemed to transfer."

"Looks like you're not in Kansas anymore." her friend said in a singsong tone.

"Seems not." Sakura mumbled mournfully.

"Don't worry; you'll be an instant hit. You're from Tokyo; Tokyo is like Hollywood for Tomoeda. Oh and people will ask if you've been on the television."

"Why would I have been on the television?" the green eyed girl questioned disturbed.

"As an extra on a TV show, the news etc. See, people here don't realize how big Tokyo is. We have one mall, see what I mean? If a street in Tokyo is on the news, they'll think you live near it. They'll think you know everyone who lives there. Maybe not everyone will think that, some have been out of Tomoeda but brace yourself for those sorts of questions."

Sakura absorbed the information and realized it did nothing to calm the butterflies in her stomach. In fact it just made them worse. She was sure they were doing the Macarena.

Naoko pushed open the main door and the cool stale air of the corridor immediately invaded Sakura's senses. It was lukewarm, certainly warmer than the air outside but the sharp shift caused her to begin to tremble.

Naoko noticing this, smiled sympathetically. "There's a heater in the attic, come on."

"Attic?"

"Yes. This school used to be the home of Clow Reed, they converted it into a school and the attic was converted into a common for the senior students. We usually meet up there in the morning. The more popular students meet in the quad by the fountain or if it's wet, you'll see them in the gym. At lunch we go down to the music room to practice."

"Practice?" Sakura shook her head. She was beginning to sound like a parrot. She really wished she could contribute to this conversation more but she was completely at a loss as to what was going on.

"Yeah, I'm in a band. I'll introduce you to the rest of them. They're really nice and not at all as crazy as some bands are. We're sort of the outcasts of the school but the school social system isn't really set in stone. Such as Tomoyo is an amazing singer and designer and she's really popular but she comes down to sit with us at lunch most days to listen. Sometimes she'll even sing. I've even seen Li down but only because Yamazaki, our bassist is a good friend of his. With such a small town, we've all been in school together for more than ten years."

Sakura gulped. That _really_ did not make her feel better.

"Oh sorry Sakura, I didn't say that to make you feel uncomfortable. I'm sure you'll fit in in no time. I was just trying to explain the dynamics to you. Of course, there are some people who just can't get along." Naoko pointed out, pitching her voice slightly and aiming a glare in Ashitaka's direction who was sitting in the corner of the attic as she guided Sakura to a spot under the skylight where her friends were sitting, talking animatedly. "Oh Rika's your hair is gorgeous. I don't know why you were so self conscious about it on the phone."

"Oko!"

Sakura stood back as two girls flung themselves in Naoko's direction, embracing her tightly. They looked close and very intimate with each other as they checked Naoko's ears for more piercings. She hadn't been this close with her friends. She had many friends, she just hadn't felt comfortable telling them everything but she missed them dearly now. She missed just sitting on the steps with them listening to who was dating who and what latest fashion accessory they'd bought and what holiday they were planning. Suddenly she blinked. Oh god, her friends and she had been so shallow, she stifled a giggle. She was a typical city girl; she smothered a grin and looked around the room so Naoko wouldn't think she was laughing at her.

It was just her friends and she hadn't known much about each other, now that she thought about it. She and Tima had really known each other. They had lived in the same apartment complex so naturally they knew each other. But her other friends probably didn't know what her home looked like or what her family did so they talked about material things for lack of any better topics. It was quite a revelation especially when she was listening to Rika tell Naoko that her grandmother had missed her and was inviting her down for the next holiday. Sakura could honestly admit she didn't know her friends grandparents names never mind what they looked like.

"Oh, guys this is Sakura Kinomoto. Sakura, this is Chiharu Mihara," she motioned to a petite curvy brunette with large brown doe eyes who smiled brightly so that a dimple flickered in her left cheek. "And this is Rika Sasaki."

Rika was a tall girl with a willowy figure, her short bobbed hair was the color of burnt umber and her heavily lashed eyes were a dark mahogany.

"Hello." Sakura greeted shyly.

"Hey, so you're Naoko's new step sister? Nice to meet you." Chiharu greeted. "Why don't you have a seat." she patted the seat beside her which Sakura settled herself onto. "So what do you think of Tomeoda so far?"

"So far? I haven't seen much. Due to some complications we didn't arrive until last night. What I have seen though looks really good. It's kind of cozy, what with it being so secluded and overlooked by the mountains, it's kind of magical."

"Magical?" Rika thought about it. "Yeah I suppose you could say that."

"It's like the mountains guard this place and can I ask a question? It's not the season for cherry blossoms so why are there cherry blossoms?"

"Ever flowering." Chiharu replied with a jerk of her shoulder as though that was an obvious answer. "So what's your power?"

"Hoe?" Sakura tilted her head confused.

Naoko looked at both of them and jumped in before Chiharu could elaborate on her question. "Oh Chiharu's Wiccan so she believes everyone has a power."

Chiharu's brow crinkled at Naoko's babbling then smoothed in realization. Sakura was non-magick and completely oblivious. Well that was going to be difficult to work through. Sure there were non-magickal students at the school, the magick classes were held after school but still people tended to talk about their lessons. Keeping stumm around Sakura was all well and good for Naoko's sake but not everyone could be warned and even if they could be, there was no guarantee they would obey. Naoko was playing with fire by not telling Sakura everything herself. If she did then there was a distinct possibility that Sakura would understand, but it they didn't and Sakura found out from a different source she would be confused and betrayed not to mention hurt.

'_Oko, I hope you know what you're doing._' She thought softly her eyes direct on her friend.

"Really? That's cool. I had a friend back in Tokyo who was wiccan. She gave it up though because of the persecution."

'_I can't believe she bought it.'_ Naoko sighed with relief and a certain amount of bewilderment.

"What about ghosts Sakura, do you believe in them?" Rika asked casting a glance at Naoko.

"I'm not sure. It's hard to believe in something you haven't ever seen, you know? But some part of me does, after all, why would they scare me if I didn't? My brother Touya says he's seen ones before though."

"I can agree with you Sakura. If you can't see something it's hard to believe in it but sometimes it's scarier to believe but not see, you know, it's sort of like blind faith."

"Yeah but how do you explain instincts?" Chiharu countered Rika's comment.

"Instincts…" Rika sighed.

"Exactly, or feelings?" the petite girl challenged, her brown eyes very clear and bright on her friend who blushed.

"Hoe…" Sakura murmured; confused as to where the conversation had suddenly turned.

Naoko chuckled and dropped down onto the couch on Sakura's other side. "Don't worry about those two. They're always having weird debates like this. Rika's on the debate team and Chiharu is just opinionated so she constantly challenges Rika over bizarre things. If Yamazaki's here, she'll pick on him instead."

"Did I hear my name mentioned?" A tall lanky dark haired boy queried as he approached. Sakura couldn't make out the color of his eyes as they were hidden behind dark tinted lenses but the slope of his jaw and the small benign smile playing on his lips indicated that he was kind of attractive in a certain light. It wasn't the kind of face that you would look at twice in a crowd, maybe only because of the shades but he wasn't bad too look at either.

"Yamazaki Takashi, this is Sakura Kinomoto."

"Ah, the daughter of your mothers' boyfriend. Nice to meet you Sakura."

"Nice to meet you too." Sakura chirped. She liked this boy immediately.

"Oh, so you came back." Chiharu quipped dryly, lazily looking up at the boy who towered over her.

He flashed a grin and Sakura decided she was right, he was attractive and obviously was interested in Chiharu if the way his attention focused on her was anything to go by. She was guessing the attraction was mutual since Chiharu had seemed to notice him immediately.

Kneeling beside the sharp tongued girl, Yamazaki pouted almost endearing. "Chiharu, you say that as though you actually expected me to not come back."

"That's what you said at the end of last year." Chiharu pointed out, daring him to argue with her.

"I didn't say that exactly-"

"Yes you did or you implied." Holding up a hand to quiet him, she turned to Sakura. "Word of advice, Yamazaki here is a compulsive liar. He can't tell the truth to save himself."

"Yes I can."

"Lie."

"Chiharu I'm not lying."

"Another lie."

"Does he always lie?" Sakura whispered to Naoko who shook her head.

"He's always had a way of fabricating the truth so that there is some honesty in it but there's a whole big piece of bullshit coating it and for the most part it was harmless but last year he told a big half truth to Chiharu about him being really ill and she really was upset about. When she discovered the truth she was really hurt and she got angry. Now anything he says, she deems is a lie." she watched her friends somberly before turning back to Sakura. "Just don't take everything he says to heart. If he starts telling you about strange things that have happened here, just let it go in one ear and out the other. Oh and also watch for when he combines his "theories" as he calls them with Eriol Hiragizawa. That's when it gets hard to tell the lies from the truth. Those two are so good they could have you convinced you're a man and can fly."

Sakura's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Really?"

"It's a very scary thing to witness, scarier to be their victim. You'll be targeted because you're new and you have a naïve air, Li's targeted because he's always serious and needs to lighten up. I find the best way to avoid becoming a victim is to just agree with everything they say. Like the saying goes, if you can't beat-"

"Join them." Sakura finished with a nod. Great another pitfall to watch out for. Her life was just looking more and more interesting.

"OW! Violence is very unbecoming of a lady."

"I'm not a lady, so ha, another lie!"

Oh yeah, really interesting.

* * *

**Well there's chapter two or actually chapter one but hey, who cares. So far inthis chapter, we see that Fujitaka has returned to Tomoeda with hisdaughter andwith a baby on the way. Sakura knowsnothing of her mothers death because it upsets her father and she can't stand that. She's trying to find her way in the school but with Naoko there to lend a hand, she should be fine. Syaoran and Tomoyo are still caught up in what happened to Nadeshiko all those years ago so how will they deal when they see Nadeshiko's eyes staring out of another person's face, a girl with Fujitaka's surname. **

**There's something to think about. Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Please, if you like this installment, leave me another. Encouragement is always welcome. I will say now that I'm not the type of writer who will have Sakura and Syaoran falling in love at a finger snap. I can't do that. Though there will be attraction on both ends, just stick with me. I hope you enjoy the story as much as I do writing it. **

**Zadien**


	3. Unintentional Slips

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Sakura or any other CCS canon. I do however own this plot and the characters you don't know.

* * *

Sins of the Father

By: Zadien

* * *

Chapter Three- Unintentional slips

Sakura sat in the large Principal's office and looked around her while the Principal -whose name was so mundane she'd forgotten it thirty minutes after he'd started his lecture- driveled on. It was the usual tedious lecture on the school rules, how a student of this fine school should conduct themselves, how they were to treat people with respect, etc. She heard it all before, each year she was given the same speech in assembly at the start of the term. It would have been interesting if it wasn't all common sense. She didn't smoke, she was hardly going to smuggle alcohol into the school grounds and if she was going to fight with another student, she'd be sure to remove her school tie and blazer and any other distinguishing features of her uniform. A small smile played on her lips as she remembered how Timo had once said how girls would have to scrap in their undies because their whole uniform had contained links to their school, including the socks and shoes.

"Right, Miss Kinomoto, we have your timetable laid out for you. You're locker combination is written on this sheet here, you may place all your belongings in there. Mobile phones are strictly prohibited in the classrooms, as are pagers and MP3 players, anything that could prove a distraction to yourself or your fellow students. A list of the school rules is inside your homework diary. You are expected to spend 3 hours on your homework now you're in senior year and no less, if you have any spare time to make up you can do so through studying. Your teachers will tell you what they expect from you when you're in class. There are several after school classes you can take. They're listed on the school notice boards. I would persuade you to partake in a few; it will make for a well rounded college application. Is there anything you would like to ask?"

'_Yes, how did you say all that without breathing?_' Sakura thought awed but she simply shook her head and lifted the pile he'd laid out for her.

"Good. I'll just send for a student to escort you around your classes for this first week. You may wait for her outside the office. I hope I won't have to see you in future, Miss Kinomoto. Good day."

Before Sakura could utter a word, she was propelled out of the office and pushed into one of the plush chairs. The Principal nodded to the secretary who quickly minimized something on the computer monitor and lifted her phone and began to speak in a soft murmur.

"Mr. Hahn…" The principal sighed as he took in the prone form of a student who was lounged over three of the plush chairs. Ear phones were lodged in his ears and some sort of rock music drifted out of them.

He opened his eyes and annoyance flashed over his face when the Principal swatted his leg to get his attention.

"Yo." the boy said lazily, shifting so that his feet were planted on the threadbare carpet and he tugged his ear phones out but didn't disengage them from his MP3 player which was stuffed in his pocket if the wire snaking out was any indication. His eyes lifted to look at Sakura with a measured gaze. As he continued to stare at her unashamedly, she shifted uncomfortably and looked away. He tsked disgustedly and shoved a hand through strawberry blond hair. "Another lamb to the slaughter," he muttered, wincing as the Principal cuffed him around the ear even though the boy was a good couple of inches taller than him.

Sakura watched them leave and found herself wondering what the boy meant before she curled her legs under her and awaited her school guide, hoping against hope that it would Naoko or someone she already knew. She didn't want any more awkward silences today.

The soft footsteps coming down the hall caught her attention and she looked up alert. The wall hid her from view but she could see that the pretty girl who presented herself at the counter wasn't someone she knew but, she realized, she had seen her that morning. She was that boy's friend; the girl who was top of their class. She couldn't remember the name though.

Tomoyo smiled at the secretary and proceeded to explain why she was there. As soon as she did, she was directed to look behind her. Nothing could prepare her for the shock she received when she approached her nervous ward only to find herself staring into Nadeshiko's eyes. She blinked quickly but she quickly assured herself she wasn't seeing things. Mentally conjuring up the picture of Nadeshiko she'd stolen from her mothers' photo album; she compared them and noticed other similarities.

The girl before her may have had lighter hair, an adorable honey brown color that reached just above her shoulders and curled around a heart shape face, Nadeshikos' face shape. She had the same prominent cheek bones and mouth though there were differences that reduced this girl's beauty. She wasn't as startling as Nadeshiko but she was definitely related. They could almost have been sisters. Or mother and daughter, a voice added.

"Hello, I'm Tomoyo Daidouji."

"Sakura Kinomoto."

Kinomoto… Fujitaka Kinomoto, she remembered. Nadeshiko had a daughter with Fujitaka Kinomoto? Was that why she was killed? No, that didn't make sense. Why kill the mother and keep the daughter? Unless Nadeshiko wanted to keep Sakura with her and he wanted her for himself? She shook her head; she couldn't possibly begin to understand the motives until she knew what sort of man this Fujitaka was. Or did it have something to do with the book? Was Sakura somehow the key to all of this?

Tomoyo couldn't help how her stomach squirmed with excitement. This was probably the most interesting thing to ever happen to her. Part of her wanted to track down Syaoran and Meilin and get their opinions, to show them her discovery but the sensible part of her that ruled most of the time reminded her that she had a duty to Sakura that she couldn't just pass up. Besides this might be just what she needed, to befriend Sakura, to get Sakura on their side.

"I'll be your guide for the day, so where do you need to go first?"

Sakura bit her lip and made Tomoyo wonder if that nervous gesture came from her mother. What exactly had Sakura inherited from her mother, apart from her eyes? Her mother could tell her, Tomoyo mused and her eyes lightened. She had to introduce Sakura to her mother. They were family; Sakura was the next best thing Sonomi had to Nadeshiko.

She stopped herself. She was getting ahead of herself and she couldn't rush otherwise she might end up scaring Sakura away. She didn't even know if Sakura knew anything about her mother or her death… or her magick for that matter. Did Sakura know about the book of Clow? She'd have to tread delicately but Tomoyo knew it was fate that she was the one to guide Sakura around; after all they were family of sorts too.

"I guess I need to go to my locker." Sakura pondered thoughtfully; then flashed a smile at Tomoyo. "I better find my locker, other wise I won't know where to put my books and that would be bad."

"Great, show me your locker number and I'll show you the way."

Sakura beamed. "Thanks."

"It's what I'm here for. So when did you move to Tomoeda?" Tomoyo asked as soon as they left the outer office area and entered the cool passage of the school corridors.

"Just last night actually. I think I'm still on Tokyo time." Sakura joked.

"Last night? That's quick."

"Oh, we were due to come here ages ago but we had some complications. Everything was already organized by the time I got here."

"We?" Tomoyo pried curiously.

The brunette shook her hair out of her face and looked around the wooden paneled walls. It was so traditional; not at all what she was expecting and it didn't smell like her old school too. It was snugger, cozy almost especially with the wind howling outside and the rain lashing against the windows. There were lines of carpet along the middle of the wooden floor and up the wooden stairs but she supposed that was because it had once been Clow Reed's home and they were trying to preserve some of its authenticity. However, she couldn't figure out why they didn't just turn into a museum, it would serve a much better purpose than a school. If they got more students, they'd never be able to look after them all.

"My papa and myself. I have an older brother but he's still living in Tokyo. I miss him so much, he's a doctor working in Tokyo general but I think he would like to have his own practice."

An older brother? That couldn't be Nadeshiko's child. So had Fujitaka had an affair here with Nadeshiko and when she'd had the child, he took the child and left Nade? Could she have tried to steal the child back? Did he kill her for that? What about his son's mother? Did she pass Sakura off as hers?

"What about your mother?"

Sakura fell silent, her eyes averting to the floor, picking out the swirls of color. "My mother died when I was a baby."

Both of them died? Or did she mean Nadeshiko? Confused Tomoyo laid a hand on the brunette's arm, feeling for her. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"You didn't know."

"I should have realized there was a reason you hadn't mentioned your mother. I had no right to pry. I suppose you can't remember much about her?"

"No, not much."

"My parents are separated; I don't know much about him either." Tomoyo confessed. Shaking her head so that her hair rippled and caught the light turning it an interesting shade of violet, Tomoyo mustered up a smile. "So where are you living?"

"With Naoko Yanagizawa on Oak tree lane."

"Oh?"

"Yeah Papa and her mother are involved."

"Oh." Tomoyo murmured. Hitomi and Fujitaka… hmm, now this was interesting. When had that happened? Had Fujitaka killed Nade so that he could be with…? No, she shook her head. Hitomi had only divorced her husband not so long ago and everyone knew why that had happened. She didn't believe that Hitomi was the type of person who would divorce her husband just to be with another man and she doubted that if and it was a big if, Hitomi and Fujitaka were involved in an affair, it was unlikely that they would have waited so long before getting together. Unless they were seeing each other secretly, another voice added. They could just be coming out in public now. However that just didn't sit right with her.

Hitomi was a nice woman. She'd babysat Tomoyo when she was just a child. She had taken the group of them out into the hills to give them a taste of rough living. Tomoyo had known her all her life. There was no way that Hitomi could have anything to do with Nade's death though they had known each other. Hitomi may have been younger than Nade but she had known her. You couldn't live in Tomoeda and not know someone. It was unheard of.

However something about this just irked her. She really just wanted to know but if she was patient, everything would unravel itself. At the moment, all she should concentrate on was Sakura. Her family.

"Do you know her?"

"Naoko? Or Hitomi?" Tomoyo asked, guiding Sakura down a narrow corridor and up a flight of stairs. "Yes, I know them. I grew up with Naoko, she's really quirky and she doesn't follow the crowd, I like that about her. I know her mother too, quite well in fact. She use to baby sit me when I was younger. She's very nice, isn't she?"

"For sure. I mean, I wanted my father to find someone he loved but I like the fact that I like her too."

"That's nice of you Sakura. Do you mind if I call you Sakura?" when Sakura shook her head, she continued. "You can call me Tomoyo. Nevertheless, it's nice. You'd have accepted her because he loves her even if you didn't like her. I know of someone who thinks no one is good enough for his mother. His father was a good man, a decent man but I think that she deserves some happiness. She's had so many tragedies; she deserves something in her life to compensate for that."

"That's how I feel about my dad, I don't want him to die alone and unhappy. I guess, possibly the difference is that your friend knew his father, I didn't know my mother."

"Hmm." Tomoyo hummed softly, counting down the locker numbers lining the wall. "Here is yours. Hey it's not far from mine. That's great. It's just down there beside that classroom door; the one besides yours is Li Meilin's. I think you'll like her once you get to know her. She can be a bit sassy but she's really very genuine, just protective of the ones she cares about."

Sakura took out the paper and glanced at the numbers before flicking the wheels of the padlock inserted in the lock. Her nails painted a light pink reflected the lantern light that lit up the halls. It was so cozy, she noted. It really didn't look or feel like a school at all.

"You really remind me of someone." Tomoyo blurted out uncharacteristically and mentally slapped herself but she had caught Sakura's attention now, she'd just have to plunder on.

Turning her head, Sakura regarded the dark haired girl. "Oh? Who?"

"My mother's cousin. You just seem to share some similarities. She died a long time ago, shortly after I was born actually. No one knows the details, the grown ups keep it pretty hush-hush but she was too young for her death to be natural. Nadeshiko was a nice person. She really didn't deserve to die so young."

Sakura froze, no longer hearing anything but the soft roaring in her ears as blood pumped viciously through her veins. Her heart was pounding violently against her ribs. Nadeshiko, Tomoyo had said Nadeshiko. But surely that had to be a coincidence. Surely there could have been two Nadeshiko's; it wasn't that uncommon of a name.

Yes that was it. It was just a coincidence. Fingers trembling, Sakura began to put her jacket and cell phone into the lockers depth. "Her name was Nadeshiko?"

"Yes, pretty name isn't it?" Tomoyo asked, watching the young brunette carefully. She'd seen the way Sakura's complexion had paled and how those bottle green eyes -so like Nadeshiko's- had gone glassy and large.

Sakura swallowed thickly, all around her, her world was beginning to crumble. She couldn't be the same person. Her mother had never lived her, had she? And yet, Sakura knew that her father, she and Touya had moved to Tokyo shortly before her mother died. Her mother had died before she could join them. But Sakura never knew how. Body shaking, eyes welling, she turned to look at Tomoyo. "What did she look like?"

Realizing that there was no pretence and hurting for the young girl because it was obvious poor Sakura hadn't known a thing, she offered her a small smile. "A lot like you. Your eyes are the same color. Here," digging into her bag, she produced the photo she'd shown Syaoran.

Sakura took the piece of paper and her heart stopped beating for a few seconds as she stared down at her mother's smiling face before it started up again, pounding louder than before. Slowly the world began to spin until she felt she was in a tilt-a-whirl. Her mouth went dry and her hands began to shake violently.

"Sakura?" Scared, Tomoyo stepped forward, closing her hands around the girls' tiny wrists. "Sakura, come on breathe. Breathe Sakura."

Sakura shook her head. "No. No. It can't be."

Hearing the girls' whispers, Tomoyo cursed herself. She shouldn't have been so forward, she shouldn't have told Sakura in such a manner. She didn't know all the facts herself. What had she done?

Yanking her hands out of the amethyst girls grip, Sakura whipped round and ran down the corridor. She didn't know where she was going, she didn't care. Inside her head things were blurring, voices and memories were stirring faster and faster until all she could hear was the buzzing in her ears. She couldn't sort out her thoughts so all she could do was run and keep running.

* * *

Tomoyo wanted to chase after her. Part of her was screaming at her to run after the distraught teen but she was frozen to the spot. Distressed she watched Sakura disappear from sight. Tears welled up in her eyes and slid uncontrollably down her porcelain cheeks. She shouldn't have said anything. Why had she said something?

A hand fell onto her shoulders. "Tomoyo?"

She started and looked up into the concerned gaze of Syaoran as he stood behind her with Meilin at his side.

"I'm so sorry." she whispered. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… I'm so sorry." She turned into him, burying her face in his chest.

Bewildered and slightly awkward, Syaoran rested a hand on the back of her head as he exchanged a glance with his cousin.

"Tomoyo, what happened?" Meilin demanded with a panicked edge to her tone. Tomoyo was never upset. Tomoyo never cried. So what had happened to her? Had someone attacked her? Her ruby gaze swept up to take in the murderous glare on Syaoran's face. Obviously he'd come to the same conclusion.

"Tomoyo, I need you to tell me what happened to you."

"Kinomoto-" she managed to choke out from behind her clogged throat. Her chest was heaving and she was finding it difficult to breathe.

"Was he here? What did he do to you? The gods help me, I will kill him!" he seethed vehemently.

"Not he… she!" Tomoyo cried.

That stopped him and broke through the red haze of fury. "She?"

Meilin gasped and shook her head. What she? Did Kinomoto Fujitaka have a wife? Did she do something to Tomoyo? Or maybe he had a sex change- Suddenly she began to notice the lights dimming.

"Tomoyo stop it."

A dark mist was beginning to fill the hall, dimming the light. Syaoran looked around the hall and took in the fear glimmering in Meilin's eyes. She wouldn't show the fear but he knew she felt it. She had a fear of the dark, maybe it was more a fear of things hidden in the dark, but he knew she didn't like being in the dark, had never liked it ever since she was a young girl who'd got lost walking home from the temple one night on her own. Everyone had been worried about her, he had been the one to find her though and when he did, he hadn't been able to believe the state she was in. Quivering and with tears sliding down her face, she had been huddled up underneath the hollow stump of an old dead tree.

But the darkness beginning to seep into the hall was no normal darkness. It was dark matter leaking out of Tomoyo's entire being.

"Syaoran do something. She's freaking out. Slap her or something."

He gaped at his younger cousin, at the panic that coated her words and caused something in him to flop erratically as though it were a fish out of water, which was exactly how he felt. His friend never lost her cool, she was always in control, he could count on her to remain pleasant and encouraging no matter what was happening around them but today she, with her holding on to him as though her life depended on him, he was shaken to the core.

He shook his head. "I can't hit Tomoyo." he snapped, but he could shake her, he decided as he gripped his friends' shoulders and began to roughly jerk her back and forth. "Dammit, Tomoyo, stop this!" he shouted.

The sharpness of his tone snapped her out of the foggy world she'd descended too where no one could touch her. She blinked and stared up at him through glazed eyes before they began to focus on the concern in his eyes. Frowning, she tried to step back but realized that Syaoran was gripping her firmly and she was quivering violently. With her heart knocking against her ribs, she took in the darkness that was beginning to shroud the hall and the large ruby eyes of a fearful Meilin.

"I'm sorry." she whispered shamefully cutting off the flow of dark matter so that the black mist drifted away. She was well known for being calm under pressure, she took pride in that ability but never had she been faced with something so emotional. She had handled everything so tactlessly. She'd acted like Meilin and just bulldozed straight ahead without thinking of the consequences but Sakura looked so much like Nadeshiko.

"What did Kinomoto do Tomoyo? Did he attack you?"

Tomoyo shook her head and she struggled to rein in her emotions. "Sakura… her name's Sakura Kinomoto." she stated slowly, raising her head so that Syaoran found himself staring into eloquent blue eyes shining with tears.

"Sakura Kinomoto? Who's Sakura Kinomoto?" Meilin demanded.

"Nadeshiko's daughter."

Both Li's stepped back as though slapped from the force of the revelation. Meilin recovered first and as per usual ploughed straight ahead with her question. "Nadeshiko had a daughter?"

"How can you be sure?" Syaoran demanded.

"You can't look at her and not know Syaoran. Her eyes, they're Nadeshiko's eyes and the similarities don't stop there. There really isn't a way for her not to be." she enthused. "And she's so beautiful, just like Nadeshiko though her hair isn't the same and she's shorter but she… She's Nadeshiko's daughter. I'm positive."

"Nadeshiko and Kinomoto had a daughter." Meilin whispered dully unable to think much past the shock. "So why did he kill Nade, then?"

Syaorans' jaw tightened as he clenched his teeth. "We don't know if he had anything to do with Nadeshiko's death. That is all merely hearsay. We don't even know how she died."

"It isn't natural for a healthy young woman like Nade to just kick the bucket without any warning and besides, didn't she have the same power as Tomoyo?"

Tomoyo nodded. "She was a very powerful predictor of the future. She dreamt of the past, she spoke of the future and she watched of the present."

Meilin curled a lip and watched as Tomoyo snapped out of whatever trance she'd slipped into as she quoted the same line. "So she was psychic. Jeez, why can't people just say that? Do they brainwash you into saying that line? And do they force you to speak in such an eerie tone? In fact whoever came up with that bright idea is cruising for a bruising."

Tomoyo chuckled weakly. Meilin was a good friend, always trying to make witty quips to cheer everyone up when the times were tough. "Possibly Meilin. I think we're told to say it like that to increase the mystique. It's hardly the most aggressive of powers. I'm just lucky I have a secondary power"

"Meh-meh." The Chinese girl mewled, waving her hand dismissively. "I have no powers but I don't go around speaking spookily."

"No you just threaten to beat people to a pulp." Syaoran muttered.

His cousin flashed a cheeky smile. "I don't threaten anything; I find actions speak louder than words. Except that actions don't actually speak, they more portray what words can't… Ok now I've just confused myself." she shook her head and wisps of raven hair fell down to frame her pretty face. "So Nade has a daughter. Ok, where is she? And why did you burst into tears? Did she hurt you?"

Tomoyo sobered. "No. No. I- Oh no. I made a mistake Syaoran. I- I was just so excited about seeing her. My family. And I- I wanted to make sure that she was Nade's daughter. I…" she trailed off wringing her pale hands. "I showed her the picture of Nade and she, she went so pale. I thought she was going to faint but she just turned and ran. I don't know where."

Meilin stared at Tomoyo then threw her hands into the air. "Damn! Pity she didn't faint, at least I'd have been able to see her. So what now?"

"We get a pass from Mr. Terada; explain what has happened and what we know. Then we head home and explain about Kinomoto's arrival to Tomoeda with a daughter. I'm guessing my mother has no idea of her arrival."

"Finally, now we get to find out what actually happened to Nade. About damn time."

"Meilin, watch your language."

"Impossible to do."

The trio turned and strode up the corridor to where Terada kept his office in the back of the building.

* * *

"_You have reached the phone of Touya Kinomoto. I'm sorry I'm not available at the moment, but leave your number and I'll get back to you as soon as I'm available. Goodbye." _

Beep.

Sakura sniffled and blew out a shaky breath as she pressed the hang up button on her cell phone. "Touya, where are you?" she whispered.

Why when she needed him so much, was he so unreachable? If he was here, he would be able to explain everything to her and yet, how come he had never mentioned to her that her mother had lived here? She must have, Sakura surmised, for that girl to have her picture. How else had Daidouji a picture of her mother?

She had said she was a family member. Her mother's cousin. It was embarrassing to admit but Sakura knew nothing of her mothers' family. Had she any brothers or sisters? Who were her parents? What was her relationship with her family? Did she like them? What was her relationship with her cousin, Daidoujis' mother? Had she grown up in this town, she wondered?

She looked down onto the town from the roof. She couldn't face going home knowing that her father had kept something from her, knowing that Hitomi and Naoko had kept something, it just hurt. Was she the only one who didn't know her mother had grown up here? It was horrible to know that she knew nothing about her mother. She didn't know who her friends were, or what her youth had been like. But she had a way of finding out, she thought slowly. Obviously Sonomi had grown up with her mother. In the picture she had looked quite young, in her late teens at the most and she hadn't been much older when she died. So… Maybe her mother hadn't lived here in Tomoeda, maybe she had just visited… But why did Daidouji carry a picture of her mother around?

Nothing made sense.

With a whimper of frustration she curled her fingers around the rail and gazed down at the ground beneath her. Everything swam dizzily in and out of focus before she turned away to lean back against it. The temperature had dipped quite suddenly and now the frigid air tossed her bangs from her face. She didn't mind the coldness, even though her legs felt swollen and had turned an interesting shade of blue mottled with burgundy underneath the rows of goosebumps. She trembled underneath the flimsy school uniform but she made no move to head inside.

She just needed some time to think. To go over everything in her mind, though she didn't know a lot, compared to everyone else that is. Daidouji Tomoyo said that her mother had died unnaturally. So did that mean her mother had been murdered or was it something like a robbery gone bad or a car accident? Probably something tragic like the latter. At least she could lower the chances of her getting a terminal disease. She was as healthy as her mother had been before her life had been stolen. What she couldn't get over was why people kept it from her? Wasn't she trustworthy?

She shook her head. Of course she was. If her father hadn't told her, then he had his reasons for it. He probably didn't want to upset her. Her father loved her. Besides, why would it matter how her mother died, she just had. If her mother had died from a disease that could threaten Sakura, her father would have told her. He didn't because he didn't want her to worry about everything and get herself all worked up over nothing. She was sure of it. Besides, she had never asked. It hurt him to remember her mother and she couldn't bear to hurt her father.

Nodding her head determinedly, she looked back towards the village. So this was possibly her mother's home. Where her parents had met. Did other people in this village know her mother? Could they tell her tales about her mother when she was young? Could they give her an idea of the sort of person her mother was? Maybe if they did, it would go some way to filling the hole inside of her heart.

Biting her lip, she made her decision. She would talk to Daidouji Tomoyo and find out about her mother and the sort of person she had been. That way she would fulfill her greatest wish without having to worry about her father being hurt. It wasn't necessary for her to tell him; in fact it might be better if she didn't. He was starting his own job today and she couldn't bother him with silly little things, not to mention the stress he and Hitomi must be facing with the baby coming.

Scooping up her bag, she slung it over her shoulder and headed for the door. It creaked as it opened and she found it strange that a house would have a flat roof but nothing in Tomoeda really made much sense to her anyway though it was more a balcony than a roof. The heat of the attic compared cool air stung her face but she didn't mind, it just reminded her that she was alive and well, unlike her mother.

A suspicious death, well if the adults really didn't tell the younger ones anything- she wasn't sure who the younger ones were but she was mainly referring to Daidouji- then that might mean that Daidouji was just speculating. Was Daidouji her mothers' maiden name?

She froze on entering the attic. There in the corner, circled around the radiator was Daidouji and her friends. "Hello." she greeted quickly, her teeth worrying her lower lip.

Tomoyo's head whipped round and immediately she jumped to her feet before clasping her hands in front of her wondering what to do. "Um hi, how are you?"

Sakura shrugged but her attention was centered on the boy with the brilliant green light around him… She tilted her head and her brow furrowed. "Hoe?" she questioned softly before squeezing her eyes shut; however on opening them again, it was still there. This blistering green outline that seemed to ebb and flow along the boys outline… was it an aura? No, auras weren't real and even if they were, well she'd never been able to see them before.

Tomoyo exchanged a confused look with Meilin. Why was Sakura just staring at Syaoran?

Meilin got to her feet. "Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to stare?" she addressed the new girl, not liking the way she just eerily stared at her cousin as though he was some new species. She was used to girls staring at Syaoran in all manners of adjective. They stared at him hungrily, longingly, seductively -or that was what she imagined they were aiming for, it kind of made them look constipated in her opinion- and some reverently, maybe even fearfully -which she liked. However, none of them looked at him as though they wanted to dissect him in a laboratory.

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts and blushed sheepishly. "I'm sorry. That was rude." but still, she couldn't quite ignore that green light. It was unnatural.

"Humph." Meilin muttered; her ruby eyes flashing.

"Oh, I'm sorry I forgot. Sakura, this is Li Meilin Rae and Li Syaoran, friends of mine." she looked at her friends and motioned to Sakura. "This is Sakura Kinomoto, my… second cousin."

Sakura mustered up a smile before approaching Tomoyo cautiously. "I wanted to apologize, for earlier I mean. I'm so sorry Tomoyo. I acted rude. I have no excuses for my outburst. It's just that, you know something about my mother that I don't. I'm really very sorry for how I treated you. You were so nice to me. I have no real excuse for how I reacted. All I can say is that I'm truly very sorry and I hope that you can forgive me and maybe we could try being friends."

Tomoyo smiled ignoring Meilin's roll of the eyes while Syaoran simply closed his eyes and ignored them. "Of course, Sakura. I'd like that."

Syaoran lounged on the small plush armchair and watched the new girl out of slits of liquid brandy. Tomoyo was right, she had Nadeshiko's eyes. Brilliant jade in color, they seemed to sparkle with their own inner light. They were beautiful; it was the first thought that struck him. They were after all the first things that struck him on Nadeshiko as well. They seemed just a little too large for this girls face though, which made people notice them just a little bit quicker. Though there was no doubt that she had a striking face. It wasn't the model good looks of Nadeshiko that would have people pausing mid strike just to look at her, no Kinomotos' looks were more humble, cute and impish. He found them more natural, more sincere, and more appealing. A tumble of honey brown hair framed her face, making her eyes the focal point of her face though the cherry mouth drew his attention for a moment; then he brushed it away. He was used to cute girls; none of them caught his attention for more than a flickering moment. He preferred substance over appearance. There was something about her, though… Something he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Maybe she had a latent magick in her; she was Nades' daughter; maybe that was what he was picking up on.

"Well-"

"There you are!" Chiharu cried as she entered the room with her gaze solely on Sakura. "We've been looking every where for you. Naoko's going into histrionics believing she's lost you, though in this small of a school I find that…hard to believe…" she finished softly as she began to notice who else was in the room with Sakura. If it had just been Tomoyo with her, Chiharu wouldn't have batted an eyelid but Li was sprawled over the couch watching the nervous brunette with an almost predatory glint in his hooded eyes.

"What's going on here?" she demanded irately, fist on her hips and her gaze lancing into that of Li's. "And pull down your shirt, what are you trying to do, give the girls a free show? For shame, Meilin's your cousin, you exhibitionist!"

Syaoran looked down annoyed then rolled his eyes and tugged down his shirt which had risen slightly to reveal a glimpse of the tanned skin of his stomach dusted with dark hair. With a disgusted tsk, he tugged down the hem of his shirt and glared balefully at the irate chestnut haired girl. He'd known Chiharu all his life, though she wasn't one of his closest friends, he respected her for standing by her friends and speaking her mind. She just didn't know when to actually keep her observations to herself at times. He swept the room with his gaze to seek out the damage her words had caused but Meilin didn't look phased, Tomoyo was suppressing a smile at his antics while Kinomoto was staring out the window.

"Thanks Mihara." he drawled sardonically.

"Not at all Li. Now what's going on here?" Were they trying to intimidate Sakura? Were they telling her about magick? She certainly did seem to be carrying a weight on her shoulders that she hadn't been earlier though since Chiharu couldn't claim to know her very well, she couldn't say for sure if there was anything wrong.

"There's nothing going on. I was just introducing Sakura to Meilin and Syaoran."

"Oh and that required her to miss her first lesson?"

"Hoe! Oh no. I never even thought." The pretty brunette winced and slapped her brow with the palm of her hand. "I should go."

"Oh Sakura, how about we meet up at lunch time. That way we can discuss things."

"Things? What kind of things?" Chiharu asked suspiciously.

"None of your business Mihara."

Shooting a dark look at the only boy in the room, Chiharu made a face and turned her attention to Tomoyo. She gave the pretty violet haired girl a probing look.

"It's nothing Haru. I just found out that Sakura and I are related, second cousins or something, right Sakura?"

Hearing herself being referred to as Tomoyos' cousin, Sakura beamed. Her father was an only child, so she never had cousins before and had always longed for them when she heard of her friends families. It was a nice feeling. "Yup."

Chiharu felt a smile spill over her features at the chipper reply from Naoko's new sister. "Well that's ok then. What class do you have now?"

Sakura pulled out a laminated card from her bag and scanned it trying desperately to ignore the pulsing green light. "Oh… Math's." she muttered glumly.

"Don't like Math's, Sakura?"

Studiously forcing her eyes not to go anywhere near the green light, she shook her head at Tomoyos' question. "No, I'm terrible at Math's." she told her new cousin with a wry chuckle.

"It must run in the family, I find Math's and science much too rigid."

"And yet you still get A's." Meilin muttered.

"Hoe… That definitely doesn't run in the family." Sakura mumbled sheepishly.

"Well we should still head to class, so c'mon." Meilin demanded suddenly feeling far too energetic, a hazard for the young Chinese girl who couldn't stand still for too long.

"Um…"

Tomoyo paused and looked at a nervous Sakura who was twisting her hands and refusing to look at any of them. The poor girl was still in shock but at least she was willing to push back her nerves and extend the hand of friendship.

"Something wrong Sakura?"

"I was just wondering if someone could show me to the Math's classroom."

"We're all going there now. Miss Mizuki's a great teacher. She really explains things and she's really patient, Sakura, so in no time at all you'll be a math whiz kid."

Though she was dubious of her ever being a math whiz kid, Sakura beamed brightly. "That's great." she chirped happily, pushing all her other thoughts to the back of her head. She'd deal with all that later; right now she had to make friends and who wanted to be friends with a worry wart?

Syaoran watched the girl with a bewildered feeling. What was this girl on? Prozac? One minute she's reeling from the fact that someone has been hiding the fact that her mother grew up here in Tomoeda and the next minute, she's bouncing on the balls of her feet and smiling brightly. Prozac, he decided, she just had to be on Prozac otherwise Tomoeda was playing host to the biggest nutter in the world. Suddenly going to Ireland seemed more and more appealing.

He exchanged a look with his cousin, her expression mirroring his confusion. Idly he wondered if Nadeshiko had been this bi-polar. Maybe that was what killed her. He was having a hard time believing she'd been… Naoko. He got to his feet so quickly that he startled the poor girl who'd been passing him, almost knocking her over. Ingrained good manners, not to mention excellent reflexes, had him reaching out a hand to catch her before she hurt herself.

"Sorry, I'm such a klutz." she stated with a sheepish grin.

"Yeah well, look out in future."

Chiharu cleared her throat. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but Li, you weren't looking where you were going and you crashed into Sakura. So you should apologize."

Tomoyo stifled a laugh at Syaorans' expression. Chiharu may not have been family or even a close friend of his but she had an uncanny ability to order him about. It may have had something to do with her twisting his arm behind his back once when they were younger. Since Syaoran had been brought up not to strike a girl, there hadn't been much he could do but let Chiharu best him and all because he'd called her puny. Or it could have been because she was Yamazaki's girlfriend. Whatever it was, she seemed to take advantage of that.

"I'm awfully sorry." he drawled shooting Chiharu a smirk while Sakura giggled softly at his chastised expression when the shorter girl glared at him. "No, really, I am sorry. Mihara, I'm being sincere, ok? This is me being sincere." when the girl continued to glare, he raised his hands into the air exasperated. "What do you want me to do? Get down on my hands and knees?"

"No!" Sakura yelped. That would be too embarrassing. "No Chiharu. Li's right, I wasn't looking where I was going. We were both in the wrong."

Meilin rolled her eyes to the heavens. "Are we going to class or what? Or are we just going to stand here and play 'who's to blame'?"

"We're going, we're going." Tomoyo chuckled, ushering Sakura out of the door and listening to Meilin's dry witticism at her cousin's expense.

* * *

Naoko rested her chin in her palm and gazed out the window but her mind wasn't on the beauty of the scenery outside. She didn't notice the blistering sunshine or the lush green lawn or the blooming peony's which bordered the quad. She paid no heed to how delicate cherry blossoms dancing in the soft zephyr looked or how the sunlight caught the drops of water cascading out of the fountain turning them into a beautiful rainbow. It was no doubt a startlingly pretty view and it managed to capture the attentions of most of the students bar those who sat too far away from the window.

However Naoko was more concerned about how Sakura was settling into class. She had been caught by Terada before she could search out her friend and hurried off to class, so that meant that she had to send Chiharu to seek out Sakura. Why Sakura hadn't gone to her morning class was a mystery to her. And where could she have possibly gone instead?

"Hey, it's snowing."

"What the-?"

She broke out of her musings at her classmates confused murmurings and looked out the window. Sure enough, big fat flakes of ice were fluttering down from the charcoal grey heavens to lie gently on the rich green grass.

"Wasn't it sunny a second ago?" she asked softly, turning to her teacher who was staring bewildered out at the scene.

"Yes… this makes no sense."

"It does you know." Feimei Li spoke up suddenly from her quiet corner. Although she was younger, she studied at an advanced level placing her in many of Naoko's classes.

"The prophecy?" Naoko asked; glancing at her friend who removed her earphones and got to her feet to look out the window.

"The forces that hold Tomoeda together are becoming restless, they're yearning for something. If they're not controlled, they will destroy this sanctuary. Clow Reed's magick is wearing off. We had come to expect this eventuality."

Miss Kon tilted her head and gazed contemplatively at the flakes before sparing her students a glance. She wasn't used to this sober Feimei. The girl was usually bubbly and full of life and mischief, a stark contrast to her brother and Naoko, though a studious bookworm, was always coming up with outrageous theories to explain everything, such as aliens taking her homework to study human life and other such schemes that had no truth but were entertaining to an extent. So seeing both girls suddenly look so serious was enough to put the young teacher on alert.

She hadn't grown up here in Tomoeda, instead she'd grown up in the suburbs of Tokyo before she had gone to study teaching in the city. This school was everything her school had not been. Though she'd enjoyed the learning experience, knowledge was, after all, power; she'd seen many of her classmates learn to despise school. She hadn't wanted that. She wanted to help students enjoy their classes. This school was everything her school wasn't. It never really closed serving as a school during the day and as a meeting place for the townsfolk to discuss the events in the small town in the valley in the evening. It was no mere school; it was too small and intimate. You got to know your students so well and that had been part of the appeal and charm of coming to work here.

However, on saying that, since she hadn't grown up here, she knew nothing of the magick this place held. She'd heard about it during her first couple of months teaching here and Kaho Mizuki had gone out of her way to help the young woman embrace the charm of the town. Still, hearing her students discuss a prophesy was startling and it did make her slightly nervous.

"Destroy Tomoeda?"

"Yes." Feimei whispered. "Tomoeda was created by Clow Reed, well to an extent. There are forces that have composed this paradise. They work together in perfect harmony. They're spirits of sorts. They are what guard this town and the people within it. However, they were not always so generous with their powers. They once ran amok and caused great chaos. A great Sorcerer, before Clow Reeds day banished them to this town. It was far away from civilization and would cause no great destruction-"

"However, when Clow Reed came," Naoko continued, finding it amusing that the students were now giving them their undivided attention when not five minutes before, they had been paying no heed to the teacher. "He sought to control the spirits. He bound them in contracts to him and they worked in a sense for him in creating Tomoeda, or Reedington, Reed's town, as it was once known. However, their contracts only last for so long."

"They're being released from their contracts, one by one and they will eventually destroy this place. Not out of malice, but just because they're spirits and they know no other way. They're like the elements, uncontrollable unless one is strong enough." Feimei finished sadly. Ever since Eriol had let slip the existence of the Book of Clow, she'd snuck into her mother's forbidden library and with the help of Naoko, they managed to find a good deal of information about this book.

"Supposedly, Clow foresaw this. He figured there would be someone born at this time, in this place that would be strong enough to battle it."

"They thought it would be Syaoran."

"Yeah, he's really strong. Remember when his lightning spell took out that tree-"

"Miss Miyazaki, please." Miss Kon shushed the gushing girl.

"You think Syao's strong. This person will be able to command the thunder God to do her will."

"What, like, have it rumble a lot?" Ryu Toshiba asked scathingly.

"Not thunder as in, ugh!" She sighed heavily and tried to compose herself. Sometimes people could be such idiots. "The Thunder God is composed of pure lightning. Blinding to the eye and can cause disastrous chaos. Like lightning striking a tree, only thousands of times worse."

"You're exaggerating a bit much, aren't you princess?" A masculine voice drawled sardonically from somewhere close behind her.

Feimei swallowed and blushed. "Well maybe a little bit. But it is much more powerful than calling lightning from the sky and guiding it because the Thunder God is the source of that lightning. It's like taking out the middle man. This person, the chosen one, will be a force to be reckoned with. He won't just have power over the elements but other forces of magick too, magick you can't even comprehend because it's not something you can learn; it's something you must possess."

"Well you must forgive us, princess, we just don't know as much about magick are you do."

Naoko sighed as she watched Koji Hahn lean against the table behind poor Feimei. Koji was incorrigible. He constantly mocked Feimei by calling her princess and he liked to tower over her and invade her personal space because he knew it irritated her. It was funny, in a perverse sort of way.

"Mr. Hahn, where've you been until this time?"

Koji smiled benignly and handed the pretty young teacher a piece of paper.

"Let me guess; you had to see the principal and on your first day back." Feimei couldn't resist quipping. The upperclassman was bothersome and he deliberately tried to get on her nerves.

"Feimei, please."

"And what, pray tell is so interesting out that window, princess?"

"It's snowing." she replied dryly motioning to the window.

"It's not anymore." Ryu responded.

Feimei looked around and shook her head. "How strange. I wonder if something has agitated them. They can't have broken their contracts yet, so there's no need to worry, but I doubt this is the last of it." she advised.

"How do you know this isn't it? How do you know that when I wake up tomorrow the whole of Tomoeda won't be gone?" A girl asked fearfully as she watched the sun part the clouds like a giant hand. It spilled through and lit up the quad with its warm light. In the distance, there was a rumble of thunder.

"I don't… I just… know." the youngest Li finished weakly. "If there was something to worry about, don't you think the council of elders would have alerted us?"

"Feimei's right, the council of Elders wouldn't stand idly by. They're probably searching for the one who can fix this mess." Naoko added firmly, though inside she wasn't so sure. Books were great but there were some things that books just couldn't help with. And still despite knowing about magick; this whole prophesy idea seemed slightly over the top to her. She'd never seen any indication that the Council were looking… She frowned. No she did remember something. She had been at Meilin's birthday party and Yelan had taken her away from the others for a little while and… She shook her head. She couldn't remember, she'd only been five at the time but that couldn't have been it. She wasn't very strong magically at five; she didn't even understand ghosts that well.

"Alright class, back to your seats. We have a lot of work to get through this term."

The class sighed before meandering back to their seats with murmured complaints.

* * *

Naoko was scanning her timetable in the common room when Syaoran found her. He'd tried to catch her before she went to her third class but had been caught by Miss Mizuki and chased back to class. Just as they had been this morning when they had wanted to talk to his mother about Nades' daughter. He still wasn't sure what to make of her. She was Nades' daughter which meant she belonged in Tomoeda. She had Daidouji blood in her veins. He had no doubt that Tomoeda had brought her here for a reason, no one came to Tomoeda without a reason. It was the way the town had been built. She was meant to be there, though he couldn't figure out why.

And he couldn't ignore the fact that her father might have been the murderer of Nadeshiko… if she was murdered. There was still no evidence to say she had been murdered, which was why he was in the common room while everyone else was in their third class of the morning which was Japanese, his weakest subject. He just had no head for languages, he was much better with math's it had a regime that had to be followed, like his sword drills.

"Naoko."

She looked up startled. She blinked once unsure her mind was processing what her eyes were seeing correctly. "Li?"

"I need a favor."

"Ok." she replied slowly placing her journal in her bag. Placing her hands in her lap, she gave him her undivided attention. "And what exactly is it that you need me to do?"

"Well you can contact the dead, can't you?"

"If they're a ghost, then yes. I have no problem talking to them." Her eyes narrowed behind the stylish frames. "Why, who do you want to talk to Li?"

"Daidouji Nadeshiko."

Naoko's brow furrowed. "Daidouji Nadeshiko… but she died years ago. She's not even a ghost."

"So you can't contact her?"

"Well no, I can only talk to ghosts. Nadeshiko must have passed on. There's no way… No, I can't talk to her."

His eyes fixed on her shrewdly. There had been something there. An inflection in her voice that told him otherwise. "What? Naoko, what else is there?"

"I- No, it's too risky and it's dangerous."

He frowned. What was she…? Oh. Oh! "A Séance."

She cringed. "Not quite but yes, something similar. There's a process to summon a dead spirit to this world to communicate. But it has to be at a certain time, in a certain place and… It's not an easy thing to do. There are too many variables that could go wrong, Li. I honestly must advise against that action. It's far too dangerous. I could permanently remove the spirit from the Plain. I couldn't risk that. Not for Nadeshiko."

"I need to know how she died."

"Would you risk her eternal unhappiness, Li? Because that's what a summoning could do? She could be yanked from her resting place and remain stuck between the two realms, never to belong to either. It wouldn't be right. She's dead, let her be." Gathering her belongings, she got to her feet and headed for the door.

"And meanwhile her murderer walks free, is that it Naoko?"

She froze before slowly turning around. "Murderer? Li, what do you mean? Was she murdered?"

He shrugged uncomfortably. "I don't know. It's just this thought Feimei put into my head."

"You do know that her daughter is living with me, don't you?"

He nodded. "That's partly why I need to know. If I know how she died, I can put the others straight and they can stop walking around on coals around this girl."

"She's special Li, I may not have known her for very long but there's something about her." she said softly before cursing herself for a fool. Li Syaoran didn't want to hear about her theories and yet, she had a feeling he understood. "I can't, I can't tell her that her mother was killed."

"You might not have to. I just want to know. My sister is running around concocting the most bizarre stories on how Nadeshiko died."

Naoko smothered a smile at the exasperation coating Li's words. She knew of Feimei's rather large imagination and how it clashed with Syaorans' rather logical mind. She could just imagine herself, the type of deaths Feimei would have made for poor Nadeshiko.

"She died at such a young age."

"Yes, but how? By illness, by accident? Her daughter doesn't even know, does she?"

"No."

"Don't you think that's strange?"

Oh he was playing her, she decided. Li knew she had a weakness and that was her curiosity and he was playing on it. He was giving her just enough to pique her interest… She gave a long suffering sigh and flopped back onto the seat. "Well there is a way to do this without contacting Nadeshiko directly." she informed him as she pulled a large rectangular box out of her bag.

"Naoko, you carry a laptop?"

She nodded. "Yes. It's mobile and perfect for me to do my work without having to use the computers in the lab. You never know when it's going to be full up."

He raised a brow. No one really used the computer lab, apart from the non magical group of students and even they were loathed to use it simply because the students with magick frowned on it. There was nothing that you couldn't do with magick. He didn't see the point of using computers. They were just an easy answer to everything and you couldn't be sure the information you were getting was actually the truth. Though they were great for storing spells and you could just type in a word and the computer would pull up all related topics instead of him having to go through every book in his extensive collection.

"Now… where would it be? There'd be no coroners' reports, no police reports, nothing you see on the TV shows. Why does Tomoeda have to be so complex, so stuck in its traditions, unable to embrace the modern world?"

"Because the modern world is a hoax."

She rolled her chestnut eyes before logging onto the internet. Thank god she, Kaho, Mike and Feimei had spent the better part of last year in order to transfer the files and records in the library to an on line version. It had been sanctioned by Yelan after some idiot thought it would be a good idea to try to set fire to the library. It wasn't available to everyone however; Kaho had managed some sort of spell and a combination of firewalls to keep out undesirables from accessing the information. It was only because she had helped out that Naoko was able to access it.

Her brow furrowing, she tried to think where she would get the information on Nadeshiko's death. "Li, where would you put information like that?"

He shrugged as he sat down opposite her. "In all honesty, I don't know. They'd have to do a record of her death."

"I suppose." she connected to the site and with a few taps of the keys; she typed Nadeshiko into the search engine. "Nothing… how can there be nothing? Shouldn't there be at least birth certificates, records, school reports? How can there be nothing?"

"We don't need anything like that. Tomoeda's a small town; we don't even have a newspaper."

Naoko slumped in her seat and rested her chin in her palm and she beat her fingers against the side of the computer. "OK, let's think about this rationally. If, what you say is true and Nadeshiko was…" She shook her head unable to say the word 'killed' "…met a foul end, then surely someone would have investigated. The police or a doctor or something, how else would people have known how she died?"

"Maybe the elders didn't believe people needed to know. None of us know anything. The only people who would know anything would be those who were directly involved." He scowled and raked a hand through his hair in frustration. "Well, thank you Naoko but I guess we'll just have to forget about how she died."

"Who do you think would kill her, Syaoran?"

He shook his head. "I don't know." he flicked her a glance as though warring with his conscious. "What's Fujitaka Kinomoto like?"

The light dawned on Naoko, almost as though a light had been switched on. "No. You can't possibly believe that Fujitaka would kill Nadeshiko? He loved her." he hissed.

"Yet he's with your mother and they're having a child. Interesting. Not to mention the fact that no one knew that Sakura even existed. Not my mother, not even her own cousin."

"That's not fair. You can't possibly judge him. Have you ever been in love Syaoran?" his jaw clenched but she continued; her eyes blazing as she glared at him. "No you haven't. Don't presume to know what that's like. If you love someone, you could not, would not hurt them. I don't believe someone of Fujitaka's caliber, someone with so much honor and love for his daughter, Nadeshiko's daughter, would kill her mother. He couldn't. And if you so much as breathe a word of your poisonous thoughts to Sakura, I will make sure you regret it."

She froze then got to her feet, pushing her computer into her bag. Flustered at her long speech, she quickly hurried out of the room, not daring to look back at Syaoran. What on earth had possessed her to explode at Syaoran like that? She never raised her voice. She never lost her temper, especially not at Li who could crush her without as much as a thought.

She ducked into the bathroom and heaved a sigh. Dropping her bag, she crossed to the mirror and gazed at her shell shock expression. She was trembling. Her heart was pumping and her knees felt like jelly.

"Oh good heavens." she whimpered. "What on earth was I thinking?"

She wasn't, but she couldn't get over Li's thinking. Fujitaka wasn't a murderer. Heck, Nadeshiko might not even have been murdered, but boy did she want to know how that woman died. It was causing nothing but trouble and it had happened so long ago. Why was it being brought up now of all times? No there was something not right there.

Pouring water in to the sink, she made a vow to find out what really happened and clear Fujitaka's name before any of this got back to Sakura. It would break the young girls' heart. She nodded her head determinedly. Yes, that's what she'd do. However, just how was she going to go about this? She groaned. Oh well nothing in life was worth it if it came easy.

* * *

**Well what did you think of this chapter? I hope you enjoyed. Not much interaction from Sakura and Syaoran but that will be next chapter. Thank you guys so much for the reviews. I look forward to them so much. I hope the characters seem relatively in character. (which is the most bizarre sentence I have written and I write some strange ones)**

ZD


	4. The key to Tomoeda

Sins of our Father

**By: Zadien**

Chapter Four

Sakura sat beneath the Cherry tree watching the erratic movements of the school students as they sought out their friends or company to eat with. She herself was sitting with Tomoyo and Meilin, though neither had mentioned anything about her mother quite yet. She supposed they were waiting for her to bring it up but for the moment, she was enjoying the sunshine beaming brightly down on them and the shade from the scented tree above her. Though she was baffled as to why it was in flower, she found she didn't really mind the bizarreness of the situation.

Despite everything that had happened that morning, she was very much enjoying the small school. The class sizes were minute compared to her school back in Tokyo. There was barely twenty in the entire class and it was smaller still in her essential classes such as Math's and Japanese which split the groups up according to their capability for the subject. And no matter how long these students had known each other, she had found a friendly person in every one of her morning classes.

She had always been a friendly girl, treat people as you yourself would like to be treated, had been her motto. However, some didn't respect that motto and treated her poorly and were often disrespectful. Yet at Tomoeda, everyone was extremely nice to her. Yes, they asked a lot of questions and at times she felt overwhelmed, however she'd found a protector in the shape of Meilin who would scare of the students if she felt that they were being far too inquisitive for their own good.

She quite liked Meilin. Despite the girls' fiery nature and her sharp tongue, Meilin was a funny girl with an amusing way of lightening a situation. She wasn't afraid to mock herself though she had revealed, in their math's class earlier that day, that as a child she hadn't been able to handle criticism. She'd mellowed out quite a lot; she'd pointed out and then promptly asked if Sakura agreed. Coupled with the intense look of eagerness and her earlier treatment, Sakura had no other choice but to agree with the ruby eyed girl.

"The air is so clean here." Sakura suddenly broke the silence with her pleased statement. She tilted her face back so the sun could wash over it and warm it while the cool scented air played with her hair. "And the scenery's so pretty."

"Well there aren't any factories to create smog nor are there many cars. People can walk everywhere so there's no need for one." Tomoyo explained with a tone of pride. It was nice to be appreciated for their dedication to the environment they lived in.

"What a great place to grow up. I wonder if my mother liked it." There was a tinge of wistfulness to the girls' soft comment, as she rested her chin on her palm and smiled whimsically, her emerald eyes softening visibly.

"I'd think so Sakura. You look so much like her and she was said to be very friendly and so gentle, I think she'd have liked it. You can ask my mother later if you'd like to come over. I'm sure she'd be ecstatic to meet you." Tomoyo offered.

Sakura pondered that a moment, biting her upper lip before nodding with a smile. "I'd like that. My Father doesn't speak much of my mother. It hurts him too much."

Tomoyo and Meilin exchanged a glance before the Chinese girl shrugged and Tomoyo simply smiled. "He must have loved her a lot."

"He did, he still does. She was his world. He was very sad when she died."

"But isn't he with Hitomi Yanagizawa?" Meilin demanded incredulously. The way Sakura spoke of her father's love, it seemed highly unlikely that he could just move on. If she loved someone, she would love them for life and only them. No one else would be able to replace their hold on her heart, which was why she found it so hard to fall in love.

Sakura's eyes grew somber before shaking her head. "Yes, but that doesn't diminish his love for my mother. He can't stay alone forever, if one of your parents died, would you wish the other to be alone?" She asked, though she understood Meilin's feelings.

She felt them herself from time to time and she knew part of the reason Touya wouldn't come to Tomoeda was because he wasn't very happy with the marriage. However, Touya had met her mother and she, Sakura, hadn't. That seemed wholly unfair, but at least Touya would tell her some of the things he remembered about Nadeshiko. About how she had taught him to play the piano, though Sakura showed no talent with the instrument herself. She'd tried to learn so that she could have something in common with her mother but it just didn't come to her as easily as it did Touya. It showed blood often had little to do with certain things.

"Nadeshiko was his first love, Meilin. He was probably slightly different when he was younger and now that he's changed, he loves Hitomi."

"So if Nade was alive, would he still love her?"

Tomoyo could have hit her friend sometimes, instead she just laughed. "Hohoho, Meilin, you just haven't been in love so you can't understand it."

Meilin scowled before directing her gaze to Sakura. "Listen to her, talking as though she knows everything but Tomoyo's never even kissed a guy, never mind been in love."

"Whatever you say Meilin, you know everything." Tomoyo taunted in a way that said that Meilin clearly didn't know everything.

The girl with the unique chignon styled hair frowned. "Who have you kissed?"

"You said yourself, no one."

"Yes, but you're making me think you have kissed someone and you're supposed to be my friend." when Tomoyo simply smiled enigmatically, Meilin snorted balling her fists. "Fine, do as you like. I don't care."

"Oh Meilin-san, of course you care. I'm sure that Tomoyo is just teasing you. Isn't that right, Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura asked earnestly, her big green eyes fixing on the calm ebony haired girl who smiled.

"Of course, you're right Sakura-chan."

"See!" She clapped her hands together cheerfully before threading her fingers together. "Um, can I ask a question?"

"About?"

Sakura tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, nervously. "Well… Why is Clow Reed so important to everyone in Tomoeda?"

"Che, silly question." Meilin muttered. "Clow Reed created Tomoeda; it was just a barren wasteland before he took control of it."

"You mean he was the founder of the town?"

"Sort of." Tomoyo replied. "It's very complicated."

"What's so complicated? If it wasn't for Clow Reed, Tomoeda wouldn't even exist."

Sakura frowned, a cute little furrow forming on her brow. "Surely someone else would have discovered it and seen its potential."

"No, Sakura, they wouldn't have. Oh you won't understand; you're an outsider." Meilin said dismissively. She wasn't trying to be unkind, but for those who didn't have magick, it was hard to explain and she was too hungry to go into Tomoeda's colorful history.

"Meilin." Tomoyo warned, before sighing and clasping her hands on her lap after smoothing out her skirt. "Sakura, what you have to understand is that Tomoeda is no ordinary town. It's infused with the spirits of many-"

"Magick created it." Meilin blurted out.

"Magic?" The emerald eyed girl squeaked, eyes large and wide.

"Exactly."

"Meilin." Inhaling, Tomoyo turned her tranquil gaze to her new friend. "Sakura, what do you know about magick?"

"Um… you mean card tricks? I know a lot about card tricks. My friend Yukito showed me some, he's very good at it-"

"That's slight of hand, it's hardly magick." Meilin snorted. There was no way Syaoran had trained all his life just to play a few card tricks.

Shooting the Chinese girl another dark look, Tomoyo continued. "There are two types of magick, you might say. There is illusionary magic, the magic of deception and performance used to entertain the masses. Then there is magick, real potent magick that can be used to do feats of greatness. Wielding this sort of magick takes years of practice and even then, very little can do this."

Sakura stared at the violet haired girl. Her mind was blank and her eyes were glazed. For a moment Tomoyo wondered how much of this was being processed.

"This is very hard to explain. You've grown up not believing in magick because to you it doesn't exist. To us it very much does. Nearly everyone in this town has magick in them. Tomoeda's a sanctuary for those with magick."

Without a word, Tomoyo turned her hand over and there in her palm was a small orb of… black swirling mist, Sakura spied with surprise. Reaching out, she brushed it with her finger tips and watched as it dispersed before seeping back into Tomoyo's pale fingertips.

"Oh. That's… amazing." Sakura breathed.

Meilin smirked. "That's nothing; you should see what Syaoran can do."

"What about you Meilin?"

Meilin sobered instantly. "I can't do magick."

"Oh… but I thought you said everyone in Tomoeda could do magick?"

Tomoyo shook her head at Sakura. "Nearly everyone. Some, like Meilin weren't born with active magick while others, such as Miss Kon, are mortal but moved here. Tomoeda can pick and choose who comes here."

"It can?"

"It's steeped in magick Sakura, but you don't need to know the ins and outs because you don't have any." Meilin answered.

Tomoyo shook her head sadly. Sometimes Meilin could be brutally blunt. Her eyes swept down to where her palmcorder sat on the grass taking in everything with its one clear lens. This would be so much fun to watch. Sakura's first glimpse of magick. She couldn't wait to capture her friend when she saw more magick. It would be so fascinating.

"So can Naoko do stuff…?" she trailed off, looking over her shoulder to make sure no one was listening which Tomoyo found adorable.

Meilin raised her eyes to the sky. This girl was so naïve. "Of course Naoko can do stuff. She can talk to spirits."

Talk to spirits? Why hadn't Naoko told her? And what about Hitomi? What could she do? Did her father know? Well possibly since he'd been here before. Maybe her mother could do stuff too? Wait a minute, could Naoko talk to her mother? She'd have to ask her, Sakura supposed.

"It's all a closely guarded secret. So you can't tell anyone Sakura, not even your friends back in Tokyo." Tomoyo warned. She knew Sakura would get this talk from her mother and from Yelan but she wanted to just advise her friend now. She didn't believe Sakura would say anything, she seemed like someone who could keep a secret but she wanted to be sure.

Sakura shook her head vehemently. "Of course not. I wouldn't. That would be wrong and I'm sure that you do very good things with your magick. I wouldn't want to stop that." with a determined look and a nod, she held out her finger. "Pinkie swear?"

Tomoyo laughed softly, before linking their fingers. "Thank you Sakura. I knew I could trust you."

"Oh you can, Tomoyo-chan. I would never let you down." The young girl swore earnestly; then she bit her lip nervously. "So… what about my mother?"

Tomoyo smiled. "Your mother could predict things, Sakura, with startling accuracy."

"Really, that's very cool. I bet she did lots of good things with that."

"Yeah she was pretty neat. Supposedly she has books upon books of prophesies but no one's ever seen them." Meilin shrugged. "More than likely that was just something some of the kids made up. She was a legend around here."

"Why? If everything you said is true, then why was she special? After all you all have something extraordinary."

Meilin and Tomoyo exchanged a glance. "Well, if she could tell the future, how come she didn't know she was going to die?" Meilin finally asked.

Sakura froze, and then averted her gaze. "Oh. Of course. I didn't think."

The Chinese girl winced. Sometimes she really did say things without meaning to. It was just a force of habit. "Sorry Sakura, I didn't mean to…"

"No, no it's ok. You're right, if she did know that then why didn't she do anything… maybe it was an illness?"

"I don't know Sakura, no one does." Tomoyo whispered softly. "But we can ask my mother. She and Nade were really close. So maybe she knows something."

"Will I have anything?" Sakura asked softly.

Meilin shook her head. "Hardly likely. It would have shown itself if you had anything. Tomoyo can see things too, she use to get cases of déjá vu when she was younger and she'd dream things that would happen. Syaoran was always really agile as a child and he always had a sensory perception that no mere human could. Now he can call on the elements to do his bidding. That's no mean feat."

"What about you Sakura? Does strange stuff happen to you?"

Sakura froze. Could she tell them about the book she'd found?

Suddenly above them the clouds began to rumble thunderously. The sky turned black as night and spasms of electric light danced around the fluffy outlines. Sakura turned her face up and where it had been warmed by the sun it was now spattered by big fat drops of water.

"It's raining?" Meilin asked; her voice soft with curiosity.

"And it was snowing earlier." Tomoyo murmured; both girls looked at each other startled before they got to their feet. "We should head in, come on."

"Yeah, let's go Sakura. Class is about to start again and I don't want to get wet."

Sakura nodded, quietly relieved that she hadn't had to tell them about the book that lay heavily in her bag. She hadn't had time to look at it, or think much about it all day. But she'd look at it later, she decided. She was going to have to do a lot of things later, she thought sadly. Things were becoming so unclear to her in this town with its magick. And that, she thought as she chased after Tomoyo and Meilin as they rushed to join the group already waiting at the door demanding entrance, was another thing she'd have to come to terms with later.

* * *

Fujitaka sat in the dark dusty office of the museum stock taking the items that had come in, in the last couple of days. His assistant Cleo -who had changed her name because she believed herself to be the reincarnation of the Egyptian queen-, had gone to have her lunch with her fiancé who was -Fujitaka had been told- a teacher in the local school.

He'd decided against going to lunch. There was too much to get in order. The previous curator had let things slide in his old age and now Fujitaka was left to pick up the slack. Not that he minded much. The fact was that he didn't mind at all. He loved his work, he enjoyed the musty scent of books, he enthused in talking about his work and he especially enjoyed the research into each relic. He could easily get lost in it.

Tapping feverishly into his computer, he failed to notice the figure that stood in his door way. It wasn't until he lifted his head to consult his book that he realized he was no longer alone.

Pausing, he slowly looked up at the slender woman who stood in the doorway. She had grown up in the years he'd been gone. No longer was she the awkward aloof young girl who stood protectively at Nadeshiko's side. Who would smile softly when awarded with one of Nade's smiles. Now Yelan was cool and regal, elegantly dressed in a beige silk Kimono with a cream obi, a strange outfit for a woman originally from Hong Kong, China. Her make up was carefully applied in the traditional look while her long hair was pulled back severely from her face.

"I was wondering when you would appear." he told her conversationally, giving her a welcoming smile and inviting her to sit.

She declined with an inclination of her head. "Let's not indulge in small talk, Kinomoto. You know I have no interest in striking up a friendship with you of all people. Where is the book?"

"The book?" he looked bewildered for a moment as he took of his glasses to rub them before replacing them on the bridge of his patriarchal nose. "Ah the book of Clow, I assume that's the book you're referring to."

"Do NOT play games with me Kinomoto. You forget your place in this town. Now where is the book? I have other matters to attend to as well."

"The book is where it belongs Li-san. Its whereabouts will be revealed to you at the correct time and place and not before."

"Then why are you here?" she demanded, eyes flaring with temper while a crack began to snake along the empty glass tumbler on his table. "You have no business being here. You were exiled long ago."

"I understand your pain Li-san. I loved Nadeshiko just as much if not more than you. But if Tomoeda didn't want me back, then I would not be here."

A wind began to whip around the room, causing her kimono to billow gently as it played with his hair. "You would dare to speak of Tomoeda's needs to me? Its most faithful servant? The descendant of its creator?"

"Tomoeda was not created by Clow Reed, ma'am. He merely harnessed its assets-"

"And tamed the unruly spirits. If it were not for his magick, this haven would cease to exist."

"The spirits are breaking free of their contracts, are they not? Do the spirits tell you who is charged with the feat of securing them?"

Her face closed up as her eyes went hard. "They know little."

"Ah." he murmured, steepling his fingers and regarding her over them. "The book has chosen its protector, its sovereign if you will. When the time comes, you will be enlightened but until then, know that the book is in safe hands."

"And how do you know all this Fujitaka Kinomoto-san?"

Fujitaka smiled kindly, his brown eyes twinkling with amusement at the hint of petulance peeking through the tone. Something, that had the woman heard it herself, she would have been mortified over. "I have my own foresight, Yelan-san."

"I trust you very little Kinomoto-san, but do as you wish. But heed this; should anything harm the people or the town of Tomoeda, I will make you regret stealing that book. The world is about to change, I just hope it is for the better." With a steely look, she swept out of the room, closing it behind her with a flick of her hand.

Fujitaka stared at the walnut tinted door and released a sigh. Reaching up, he squeezed his brow twice. A quick glance at his clock told him that he should probably go eat before the building headache broke through his barriers.

A phone rang shrilly and he started. Glancing around the paper scattered desk, he tried to remember where the phone had been that morning. Patting each mound with a hand, he searched the desk praying the phone wouldn't ring off before it went out, then he released a sigh as he found it and answered it.

"Moshi-moshi, Fujitaka Kinomoto speaking?"

"_Hey Dad, it's Sakura._"

"Hello Sakura, is there something wrong?"

His daughter's soft sigh came down the line clearly and he could tell her first day of school was already taking its toll on her. His heart went out to her.

"_No, Dad, nothing's wrong. Actually, I've made some friends, they're really nice and I've been invited to their home this afternoon. Could I go? I know I have to do the dishes this evening but I won't stay late and I'll cook and clean up tomorrow night, I promise-_"

"That's quite alright Sakura. If you want to visit your friends' house, I don't see a problem. In future though, I would like more notice but I understand."

"_Oh thank you, Dad._"

"So, who is this friend?"

"_Oh Tomoyo-chan and Meilin-chan, and I think Li-kun might be coming but he never said. He's awfully quiet, but I guess that's just the way he is and he doesn't know me, so maybe he's shy. Perhaps if I talk to him, we could be friends-_"

"Sakura," her father laughed. "Slow down. Now what are these girls' names?"

"_Oh, sorry Dad. Daidouji Tomoyo-chan and Li Meilin-chan._"

"Daidouji and Li?" Fujitaka repeated softly. Now what were the odds that his daughter would link up with the daughters of her mother's friends on her first day of school? Sakura was no doubt a friendly girl but even this was fast for her. Fate was at play here and who was he to interfere? "Well I hope you have a very nice time, Sakura and if you need me, you can reach me on my cell."

"_Ok, bye dad. See you soon._"

Outside the door, Yelan listened to Fujitaka hang up. So Fujitaka had a daughter? Now when had this happened? And why had Tomoyo and Meilin's names been mentioned? Or she figured the friends his daughter was referring to was Tomoyo and Meilin. If his daughter was friends with them, that put her at the same age as them. He had only had a son from his previous relationship; did that mean he had been cheating on Nade? With a grimace on her lips, she stalked out of the museum making a mental note to visit Sonomi this afternoon for a friendly chat.

* * *

Sakura was lost. She was supposed to be meeting Tomoyo and Meilin out by the gates but somewhere along the way, when she went to inform Naoko of where she would be that afternoon, she had gone astray. Poor Naoko had seemed stricken when Sakura had mentioned that she was going to Tomoyo's for tea after school. Sakura was having a hard time justifying why her friend would be so worried. Tomoyo had been so nice to her after all. They had had lunch together and Tomoyo had sat beside her in the free library class.

Maybe Naoko had something planned, she realized with a gasp. Oh, dear why hadn't she realized that sooner? She hoped she could make it up to her.

She shifted her satchel to her other hand before catching it with both hands and holding it in front of her as she pondered over just how she would make things up to Naoko. She could take Naoko to the cinema, there was a sword and sorcery film that had just came out that she knew Naoko would love to see. Or there was the swimming pool… She trailed off.

_That's right; I no longer live in Tokyo. There's no swimming pool here, that's why Naoko can't swim._

What did the children here in Tomoeda do for fun? Did they have magick shows? Or duels or exciting things like that? How were teenagers with magick different from those without? She couldn't really see a difference in the students around her, but then she had only been here a day. However, everyone had been really nice to her and welcoming too. She supposed they were different per se. Just in the way that people of different religions weren't really different either, they just had different thoughts and ideas but deep down inside they were all just human.

"Oof." She felt the breath leave her as she slammed into something and stumbled back, only for a hand to come out and catch her elbow to steady her.

"Watch it!" A voice growled harshly. "Oh it's you."

Sakura looked up, eyes filled with apprehension and apology. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going-" Even before she saw his face, she caught sight of the green light and knew. "Oh, it's Li, isn't it? Hello, you probably don't remember me. I'm Sakura Kinomoto, Tomoyo's-"

"I know who you are." The boy said wearily as he raked a hand through his chestnut hair.

Sakura flushed sheepishly as she remembered how she had acted towards him earlier that day. "I'm sorry. You must think I'm very rude for staring at you like that, it's just that-"

Syaoran suppressed a groan. His head was splitting and he wasn't in the mood to hear a girl, no matter how pretty she was, gush over how he looked. He heard it enough when friends of his sisters met him and it really did wear on his nerves. He just wasn't good with idle small talk and that's all he saw it as, it certainly didn't feel like flirting to him and it wasn't a genuine conversation either. He knew what he looked like. The spitting image of his father, god he knew it already, he didn't need others to tell him.

"You have a very powerful aura-"

That, he had not been expecting! Aura? He snapped out of his mental rantings and focused on the girl standing before him, wringing her hands and looking up nervously at him through inky lashes.

Sakura continued to ramble, completely oblivious to Syaoran's train of thought. "Not that I've ever seen an aura before, but I think it's an aura. I mean, it's very green and it's just there and-"

"Hold it." Syaoran commanded as he caught the girls' shoulders and forced her to look up at him. "You can see my aura?"

She gulped under his heavy scrutiny and nodded slowly. Had she said something wrong? Was she not supposed to see it? Was it supposed to be a secret? She knew from how Meilin had described him, that Syaoran was very proud of his magical capabilities and for someone like Sakura to see his aura, well maybe that wasn't a good thing.

"How?" he wondered bewildered.

He scanned her outline carefully. He had sensed something from her earlier, something that tugged at the back of his mind like an annoying child begging for attention, but it had been easily ignored. Now he focused on it, pulling it closer to him and into the light to inspect it. There was something around her, the barest flicker of an aura, as though it were hovering in the doorway, waiting to be noticed and brought to the foreground. She was very weak magically and yet, there was just something niggling at him, telling him that not everything was as it seemed.

His eyes flickered to her bag. There was something in there, he realized, his senses flaring to life. Usually he turned them low at school, there was too much to pick up on and it just overwhelmed him but now he needed every intuition tuned into this girl to pick up the barest trace of magick pulsing in her satchel. It was golden, he spied; golden muted power. Like something strong and powerful contained, locked within awaiting its release and when it was, it would be… devastating.

"I don't know." Sakura finally choked out. "I really don't know. I could never see anything before and now everything is so new and shiny and I… I don't know how this happened." She felt heat sear her cheeks at the fact that she was blurting this all out to a complete stranger and yet; she felt that he could understand. She fisted her hand and pressed it to her mouth. She'd said too much. "I'm sorry Li-kun, I shouldn't be telling you all this. You probably have something else to do and I have to-"

"When did everything change?" he finally asked, despairing of himself for having one chivalrous bone in his body. It was his damn sisters' fault, he didn't have enough men in his life and the only men that were in his life were a bunch of wimps that even his sisters could beat in an arm wrestle.

Sakura bit her lip and peeked up at him nervously. "Well, I…" with a decisive nod, she pulled open her bag and pulled out the book.

Just as Syaoran went to take it from her to examine it, a spark of power leapt from to the book to shock his finger tips. Snapping them back, he scowled. The scowl melted to a grim yet thoughtful expression.

"The book of Clow." he spoke out loud. Raising his eyes to look at the nervous yet curious girl before him, he motioned to the people around him. "How many other auras' can you see?"

Sakura shook her head so that the bangs framing her face swished gently. "None but yours. I guess that's because you're so powerful. Meilin-chan said you studied for a very long time and that you train every day."

"None but mine? What about Hiragizawa?" Though he was loathed to admit it, Eriol was just as strong if not -and probably more likely, much to Syaoran's annoyance- stronger.

"Hiragizawa?" She questioned dubiously. "I don't think I've met him?"

Syaoran rolled his eyes at his stupidity. Eriol hadn't bothered to show today, said he had something else to do so of course Sakura wouldn't have met him yet. "Right. Uh, what about Mizuki-sensei?"

"Nothing. Is she very powerful?"

"Hmm, she's a telepath." Syaoran tapped his fingers against the wall in a disturbed manner as he tried to figure things out. "Where did you get the book?"

"I found it in my room, in one of my unpacked boxes. The thing is I didn't pack it. I don't know how it got there." She caulked her head to the side and tapped a finger to her lips. He wondered if she practiced looking cute or was it just natural, a by product of her innocence. "You said, Book of Clow. As in Clow Reed, the man who made Tomoeda?"

"Not made, molded." Syaoran replied absently. At her baffled look, he added. "The elements were all there, he just crafted them into what he envisioned. And yes, he created a book in order to hold the contracts for the spirits. When Clow Reed came here, the spirits of water, wind, etc. were hard to control and fighting amongst themselves for superiority. He sought to control them and sealed them in cards after proving himself worthy of beating them.

"He used the cards when they were needed, rain to ease a drought; wood to hold the earth together and with them he created this haven. They came to respect him and love him. However, before he died, he bound them in a contract. For their freedom, they would do his work and he wouldn't seal them in their card forms. He bound them for three hundred years and now the contract is approaching its end. The cards are breaking free of their binds.

"There's a prophesy which states that a chosen one will rise, strong and powerful in their magic and they will battle the cards to seal them once more and continue Clow's work to maintain the haven that is Tomoeda. Whoever can open that book and unlock the key, will be the chosen one."

Sakura stared at the book in her hand. "Hoe… That's… That's incredible. Clow Reed must have been a very strong and brave man to beat the elements and to win their respect. I hope whoever gets this burden will be able to live up to his standards."

Syaoran sighed. "They thought I would do it once. But I couldn't unlock the key."

"Maybe if you unlock the book, you can unlock the key. That could be the key to unlocking the key." She flushed and her nose wrinkled. "Hoe. That didn't come out right."

He pondered that and then nodded, his brow clearing. "Makes some sense."

"Sakura! There you are."

Syaoran's head jerked up. There was Tomoyo walking down the corridor. He turned back to Sakura who was waving to her friend. "Look, Kinomoto. Hold onto that for me and don't tell anyone you have it. I don't want to get their hopes up."

"Sure, Li. And thanks for listening to me." She smiled brightly at him and his heart stuttered. Shit, now he was in trouble. One smile and his heart was having palpitations.

"Sakura-chan. Syaoran." Tomoyo greeted with a sly glint in her eyes that had Li just barely managing to stifle a groan before striding off.

Sakura watched him go with a bewildered expression. She tilted her head then shrugged. He probably had a lot to do and to think about it. After all, she had the Clow Book and he had to make a bargain with all the spirits. Maybe if she helped him open it, he'd let her tag along. She really would like to see how his magick worked. She had been wowed by Tomoyo but Li was so much stronger.

"SAKURA!"

She jumped and flushed guiltily as Tomoyo shook her head in exasperation. "I've been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes. What's the matter? Are you missing Li already?"

"Hoe? No, it wasn't that. I was just thinking, about all this magick stuff. You know, I really don't understand a lot of it."

"But you're so calm. You're really taking it all in your stride. I don't know if I'd be able to remain as calm as you do."

Blushing with pleasure, Sakura shook her head. "I'm sure you would Tomoyo-chan."

"I don't know Sakura. If I didn't grow up with all this stuff around me, I don't think I'd be able to take it all in. I'd have to see definite proof."

"You showed me proof." Sakura pointed out then she grinned. "It's all so mysterious. The Clow cards and the spirits and the book and the key-"

Tomoyo froze and a slight frown caused her lips to turn down. "The book and key? Sakura I never said anything about the Clow Book or a key."

Emerald eyes widened and the girl cringed. Oops, there she went again opening her mouth before engaging her brain. "Uh… I must have heard someone mention something about it."

"Oh, ok. The book has been missing for years. No one knows where it is. We think it might have been stolen, which doesn't bode well when you consider that the contracts almost up."

Had Sakura been listening to the rest of the conversation, she might have told Tomoyo that she had the book and that she didn't have to worry but all she could hear was the word _stolen_. Was that true? Had someone stolen it? Then how did she come to get it? Had her father taken it? Obviously he had been here before. How else had he met her mother and how else could she have been conceived. He had to be here before. Had he known about the Clow cards? Had he taken the book? No he couldn't have. Her father was an honorable man. He would never do anything as dishonest as stealing such an important artifact.

But he was a historian. He loved old musty books. The Clow book would have been like a pot of gold to him. Could he have resisted it if it had been placed in front of him? Of course he could. Something else must have happened. Maybe someone put the book in his bag as he was leaving? Maybe her mother gave it to him for safe keeping. After all, she was a prophet, she must have known he'd come back someday. It was probably meant to happen like this. She was supposed to find the book and give it to Li so he could catch the spirits and make Tomoeda safe again, and she would help as his friend. She'd never really had a male friend before.

Hmm. That had to be it. There was no other explanation. Her father was not a thief.

"Sakura, you just zoned again."

"Oh, I'm sorry Tomoyo. I'm just having a stressful day."

"Well then, let's get you de-stressed."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"By trying on clothes, of course!" Tomoyo exclaimed with a happy smile, before latching onto Sakura and dragging her down the corridor.

* * *

**Well was that ok? I hope it was. Syaoran and Sakura are very interesting to write about but I don't want them to fall in love just yet. Just some initial attraction and a tentative partnership and then we'll see how it flows. **

**Well read and review please. **


	5. Lingering Threat

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own CCS, just some of the plot line and a few characters here and there. **

* * *

Chapter Five - Lingering Threat  


"When you said trying on clothes, I thought you meant at a shop." Sakura sweat-dropped as she looked down at the futuristic dress she was wearing, something Tomoyo had produced from her walk-in closet. "Not something from your wardrobe."

"Oh, that little thing's not my wardrobe."

"Those are clothes that Tomoyo-chan makes. She designs them and then spends hours putting them together. It's a big yawn but it makes her happy. She's been dying for a model though, so I guess that's where you come in." Meilin chimed in from where she was sitting in the corner reading her manga.

"You make them? Wow, Tomoyo-chan, you're really talented!"

"I'm not really; I'm just good at the things I like to do."

"Such as making clothes, making videos, singing, creating video games… Yeah she's not talented at all."

Sakura chuckled at the friendly banter between the two girls. It was clear that they were very close and she wanted to feel a bond like that with them. They were so much fun. She hadn't felt so at ease with new people before. But at the back of her mind was the niggling thought that the book they were so anxious to find was resting at the bottom of her bag. Would they forgive her for taking it? Would they think she or her father had stolen it? Surely not. They had to believe that it was just an accident, a twist of fate.

"So Sakura-chan, what do you think of the school so far?"

Sakura wandered over to one of the arm chairs, careful to smooth out the skirt before she sat down. Twirling a lock of hair around her finger, she pondered the question. "Well, it's very different from what I'm used to. The classes are so small and there're less people to get to know. I think I saw everyone at least once today and sometimes I can go to class in Tokyo and not notice half the people in my class even when they're sitting in front of me."

Tomoyo laughed. "Yeah, you'll get used to the small numbers soon enough and you'll get to know everyone really quickly. You already know half our class already. There's myself and Meilin-chan and Li-kun, Naoko-chan, Chiharu-chan, Rika-chan, Yamazaki-kun, Ashitaka-kun and Hahn Koji-san, who you haven't met and… is that it Meilin?"

Meilin counted off the people on her fingers. "You left out a few of Yamazaki-kun's friends and Ashitaka-kun's friend; you know…" she clicked her fingers as she tried to remember the name. "Oh it will come to me later, besides, he's not important. The thing to remember is that you're our friend so not many of them matter. So ignore them; if they give you any hassle, tell me."

"It must be nice to know everyone." Sakura murmured as she stared out at the large garden in front of Tomoyo's home, surrounded by a large wall that kept intruders out. She didn't have a garden in Tokyo, just a few potted plants out on the balcony.

"It is and it isn't," Meilin said. "You know everyone which is nice, but they also know you and your family and your transgressions. You can't even say a curse word without half the town coming down on your back and if you make one wrong move, it'll fuel gossip for at least a fortnight. However, as a Li I don't have that problem. You will, of course."

Tomoyo shook her head at Meilin's rambling. Honestly, Meilin sometimes just didn't think before she opened her mouth and blurted out whatever was on the tip of her tongue. She missed Sakura's surprised gasp followed by the cute bewildered frown and even the sigh of anxiety as she continued to tell Sakura all about what could go wrong.

"…After all, everyone will want to know why you're here. You don't have any magick. So what would Tomoeda want with you? Do you have any skills it would want?"

Sakura shook her head. She knew why Tomoeda had brought her here but she told Li she wouldn't say anything because he didn't want to get their hopes up so she kept stumm.

"Meilin! Stop that. You're being too hard on Sakura-chan."

"What, I'm just letting her in on what's in store. After all, I had to put up with it. I'm just giving her the benefit of my experience."

"Meilin-chan, no one says anything about your powers. The only person who continuously goes on about it, is you! Now I'm telling you this as a friend, because I honestly don't think this had gotten through to you yet. And it'll be a hard lesson for you to learn, but we don't care if you have no powers. It doesn't matter to us. You're Meilin, our friend. Whether you have powers or not is not going to change that. Li-kun doesn't go easy on you in your spars because you don't have any powers, and I'm not going to ditch you for someone more powerful. You have to get over it. Magick is not everything."

Meilin humped and folded her arms as she scowled and turned her face away. Tomoyo sighed and rolled her eyes to the sky. Meilin was her own worst enemy at times. She turned back to Sakura, noting that the girl had watched the entire scene unfold as though it were a fascinating film.

"So more clothes, I think. You'd look pretty in something pink."

"Hoe… I guess. If you think so."

"I do. Come on Meilin-chan, you're going to help me dress up Sakura-chan for when Mum comes back."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes, you can do the makeup."

"I'm in."

* * *

An hour later, the three girls had sat themselves in Tomoyo's home cinema, munching on popcorn and watching various films that Tomoyo had in stock. They cooed over the male lead, gasped over the scary monsters and cheered over each thwarted opponent. Or Sakura did. Meilin had a tendency to point out various flaws with the martial arts the male lead was doing while Tomoyo kept commenting on how she would have used a different angle here or a zoom in there. All in all though, it was fun and Sakura was really enjoying herself.

However, her thoughts continuously strayed to Li each time there was a shift in the weather pattern outside. How was he going to open the Clow book? And when it was opened, how did he get the spirits under contract? The whole idea seemed so farfetched and yet utterly exciting and fascinating. She hoped he'd let her tag along to watch.

"No way! He'd be disarmed if he tried that. Can't they keep this a little realistic?" Meilin demanded with a huff as she once again found the fighting scene to be absolutely preposterous.

"Well it is a Fantasy, Meilin. It's not supposed to be realistic." Sakura tentatively pointed out.

Meilin made a sound of disdain before shoveling another handful of popcorn into her mouth. "And the lead doesn't inspire any warmth at all. I don't really care if he completes his quest. Aren't you supposed to feel something for the lead?"

Since she directed the question to Tomoyo, the violet haired girl put down the camera she'd been taping Sakura with causing the girl to blush, and turned her attention to the large screen. Placing a finger to her cheek, she pondered the question. "Well, yes, I suppose you're right. The protagonist must be able to capture the audience's interest. He or she must compel the audience to care about them and feel the emotions with the character. However, I sometimes find with many fantasy films that the script writer and the director overthrow human emotion in order to put in more fight scenes and scarier monsters and better special effects. Of course in my films, I will have an equal share of both."

Meilin wrinkled her nose but whatever she was about to say was cut off as the shelves in the room began to rattle and the ground beneath their feet began to quake. Surprised, the three girls jumped to their feet and braced themselves against the motion.

"What is that?"

"An earthquake?" Sakura wondered as she stumbled to the doorway and propped herself against it.

"No, we don't get earthquakes. We're not on a fault line." Tomoyo shouted over the dark rumbling as she caught a trinket before it smashed on the floor.

"Then, what is it?" Meilin demanded as panic began to lick at her tone.

"Get in the doorway!" Syaoran ordered, clambering in the window and grabbing Meilin by the elbow before herding both her and Tomoyo over to the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" Meilin demanded. "You said you were too busy to come."

He dismissed her comment as his brows furrowed and he began to sense something. An energetic pulse was beating beneath them. "This isn't a normal earthquake."

"Hoe?"

A photo jerkily danced to the edge of its shelf before it plunged to its doom, the glass shattering on impact while a piece of crockery made a stupendous dive from the top of the video cabinet.

"My camera!" Tomoyo suddenly exclaimed, breaking away from the other three to hurry over to the coffee table where her camera sat unharmed for the moment.

"Tomoyo!" Sakura cried out just as Tomoyo's eyes widened and jerked up to the ceiling.

Following her gaze, Syaoran cursed. The chandelier was coming loose. Without wasting a split second, he dashed forward in a blur of motion to knock his friend out of way as the light crashed to the ground, sending a wave of shards everywhere. Meilin screamed while Sakura shielded her face. The splintered glass pierced the sofa and surrounding objects, including Syaoran's outstretched leg.

As quickly as it had begun, the earthquake suddenly stopped leaving the chaotic room in deathly silence. It was only broken when Syaoran began to shift. He hissed in a breath as a sharp slash of crimson pain shot up his leg. Biting his upper lip, he rolled onto his back and slowly, grabbing on to the edge of the coffee table, he began to sit up. He turned to check Tomoyo. She managed to give him a weak trepid smile as she too began to sit up, nursing the back of her head.

"Are you ok?" he questioned softly.

"Yes. Thank you Syaoran." she smiled gratefully before turning to her camera, carefully nestled in her hand. "Oh good, my camera's ok too."

"Tomoyo…" he trailed off with a shake of his head. He knew of his friends' devotion to filming everything, he really couldn't berate her. Her camera was her baby as she often pointed out. She would never be without it and she would never purposely put it in danger but sometimes he wished lightning would just strike it down. She had more embarrassing footage of him than was allowed. "Is everyone else ok?"

He glanced around to make sure his cousin and the new girl were ok and was greatly relieved to see the pair of them clutching the doorframe. "Stay there," he ordered, getting to his feet and ambling towards the hall door to check the rest of the house and its occupants.

"Where are you going?" Meilin demanded; eyes narrowed on her cousin.

"To check the rest of the house."

"I can do that." Tomoyo said, quickly heading for the intercom.

"The power might have been knocked out." he told her, with his hand still on the doorknob.

"Oh, Li-kun, you're injured." Sakura gasped.

Syaoran glanced down in the direction she was pointing and shrugged at the blood that was seeping into his khaki pants. "It's nothing, just a scratch."

"Just a scratch?!" Meilin echoed incredulously.

"Some scratch." Sakura remarked wryly. "You must bleed easily then."

"I do not!" He snapped.

Tomoyo barely hid her smile behind her hand knowing just how macho Syaoran liked to consider himself to be; then she gasped. "Oh you better take them off right now, Syaoran, otherwise they'll be ruined and you look so good in them." she pressed a hand to her cheek then her expression became determined. "Right. Off now!"

"Tomoyo!" Syaoran yelped scooting away from her, his arms folding in an effort to ward off his eccentric friend.

"Li-kun you really should seep them in cold water. And you should get that cut seen too."

"It's nothing." He affirmed piercing the girl with a dark look that had her shrinking back before brightening once more.

"Tomoyo's got lots of clothes if you're worried about not having anything to wear."

Meilin slapped her forehead. "Big mistake."

Immediately, Tomoyo's eyes went starry with the thought of being able to dress of Syaoran. Especially since he never wore any of the clothes she made for him. He was always too worried about his reputation.

"No!" he growled warningly as he began to slowly open the door.

"Li-kun, what if it gets infected, or you get blood poisoning."

"Sakura makes a point, dear cousin. You should at least bandage the wound. I'm sure his trousers will be ok. After all, he has plenty of money to buy new ones, even if he is scrooge when it comes to spending it."

Tomoyo sighed heavily. "But I could have it washed and dried and ready for you to wear home again."

Meilin sidled up to Sakura. "When she says 'I', she means her maids."

Sakura chuckled and walked over to the sofa. "Hmm, we're going to have to tidy this all up. I wonder what caused the earth quake. Did you say it wasn't natural, Li?"

Syaoran nodded, fending off Tomoyo's hands with an expression of annoyance. "Leave me alone, Tomoyo. I'm not taking my pants off." he walked over to the sofa to survey the damage. "I felt a strange energy."

"An aura?"

Tomoyo and Meilin both snapped their gazes to Sakura who was looking incredibly cute and serious as she gnawed her lower lip while Syaoran was grim.

"Something like that." he replied absently. "It's hard to explain."

"Hmm, could it be a spirit?"

"More than likely."

"This is getting serious. Do the elders have any idea about who the chosen one is?" Tomoyo questioned.

Syaoran shook his head and shot Sakura a hard look, a sure sign for her not to say anything. Sakura looked down at her feet and clasped her hands behind her back, biting her lip so she wouldn't let slip about the book in her bag.

"Where did the earthquake come from?" Meilin wondered out loud.

Syaoran shook his head. "I can't say for sure." But it felt as though it was directly under them. "I'm going to check the rest of the town, see if I can figure out where it came from or what caused it."

"At least bandage your wound." Tomoyo ordered. "I know you're strong, Syao-kun, but you still need to take care of yourself. You'll do no good to anyone if you're injured."

He closed his eyes and fought for some semblance of patience. "I heal fast Tomoyo, I'll be fine."

"Can I at least see the wound first? Just to make certain it will heal without stitches?"

"I don't have time, Tomoyo. The spirit could be out there now; people could be in danger right now!" He exploded in frustration.

Meilin nodded her head determinedly. "I'll go look."

Syaoran scowled at her. "And if you find the spirit, what will you do? Spirits aren't solid, Meilin. They can and will hurt you and you won't even have a chance."

"None of you are going anywhere." A voice stated regally from the doorway as Yelan Li entered, scanning the room with her gaze before it hesitated over Sakura, then it latched onto her son who was clutching his leg. "Syaoran, sit down."

Syaoran opened his mouth as though to say something, only for him to shut it under the fierceness of his mothers glare. He shuffled over to the sofa and dropped down onto it, propping his leg up on the broken coffee table.

"I'll go get the first aid box." Sakura offered only for Yelan to shake her head.

"There is no need. I assume, you have been told of our special skills?"

Sakura froze, pressing her lips together before nodding soberly. She wasn't sure if the woman was angry with her or not, it was hard to tell but then she smiled slightly and it warmed her face and Yelan gasped. Oh Kami-sama, the girl was the spitting image of Nadeshiko. There was no doubting that smile or those eyes. She was Nadeshiko's daughter.

"Mother!" Syaoran hissed as his mother's grip on his leg tightened painfully. His eyes swept up to find out what had her so distracted, only for him to see that her eyes were brimming with unshed tears and her lips were tightly pressed together to suppress the emotions that were battering her system. He followed her gaze and found himself watching Sakura who stared back at Yelan with a deer-caught-in-car-headlights expression.

"Oh Li-san, this is Sakura Kinomoto. She's just moved here from Tokyo."

Yelan slowly rose to her feet, looking every bit as regal as a Queen, before she approached the brunette. "It is very nice to meet you. You remind me of a girl I once knew; you have the look of her."

"Nadeshiko Daidouji." Sakura stated calmly. "She was my mother."

Yelan looked to the young trio and raised a brow. Now how did they know of Nadeshiko? They must know something to tell Sakura, after all, how else would she have known? But she dismissed the thought as something to figure out later. She turned back to her son, in order to heal his wound but her attention was on the young girl, the daughter of her deceased friend. "I did not know Nadeshiko had a daughter."

"I- I do not know how to answer that. I never met my mother. I grew up with my father, Fujitaka Kinomoto, in Tokyo. We just moved here and now I- Forgive me, it isn't right for me to pass my problems onto you."

"I was a friend of your mother's; she was like a sister to me. It saddens me to realize she didn't get to see you." Yelan murmured as she focused on the flow of Chakra flowing into her sons wound, growing tissue and skin cells.

"How did she die?"

Yelan sighed, running her fingers over her sons' leg, nodding in approval of her work, before she rose to her feet, brushing out the creases in her outfit. "I'm afraid, that is something only Nadeshiko knows."

"But surely someone must know something. She couldn't just die, there has to be a reason. My mother… don't I deserve to know? I don't know anything about her."

"Now, that is something I can help with. I do not know how she died. All I know is that one day, Nadeshiko just wasn't there."

Syaoran exchanged a startled look with his cousin and friend. She had disappeared? All this time they had believed her murdered, when she had simply just vanished.

"Then maybe she's alive." Sakura blurted out, eyes lighting up with hope.

"All this time? Without contacting anyone? Without going to see her child? That is not the way Nadeshiko was. She was the most caring, the kindest; she was the best of all of us. She would not have abandoned those she loved, not for anything."

She shook her head. It couldn't be true. If there was no body, then there was a chance. A chance that she might not be dead. "Maybe she doesn't remember."

"Sakura, may I call you Sakura?" The woman asked softly, laying her petal soft fingers against the young girls' cheek. "I do not think you're mother is alive. Something inside me tells me that she has long ago passed on."

"But you don't know that for certain. There's no body, no way to tell. If she just vanished, where would she have gone? You said she wouldn't leave those she cared about, so what do you think would have made her disapp-" At the slight flicker crossing Yelan Li's face, Sakura faltered and another thought flared to life at the forefront of her mind. "You don't think she disappeared voluntarily. Then what?" How else did people disappear, she wondered. "Do you think she was kidnapped, murdered? By who? If my mother was as good a person as you say, who would hurt her? Who would take her life?"

"Aunt Yelan, this isn't the time-" Meilin interrupted, eyes pleading.

"I do not know Sakura. I do not believe that someone killed her deliberately; maybe it was just an accident. A crime of passion. He may not even have meant to kill your mother."

"Who?" Sakura demanded, eyes burning with anger and the contempt for the person that would have stolen her mother's life.

"I- It was a long time ago. And everyone in this town- I trust them with my life."

"Who?"

"Only one person left after Nadeshiko disappeared. Only one person fled and he took a priceless treasure with him-"

"No." Sakura whispered, her throat closing around the word as her chest became tight and her eyes burned. Surely, she didn't mean… No… "You blame my father?"

"I do not know for sure. But the evidence speaks for itself. Your father seduced my friend, he got her with child and then he left, taking a priceless antique with him."

"My father would never have hurt my mother. He loved her. He loves her."

"I hope you are right, my child. But there is a reason Timed has brought you back, my dear girl, and I will find out why. Nadeshiko's death will not go unpunished."

Sakura shook her head, swallowing back the tears that threatened to choke her. "Well maybe you should start looking at the residents of this town, because my father would _never_ hurt anyone. Especially not my mother. And if you so much as breathe a word of this to my father, I will see you rot."

Tomoyo pressed her lips together to keep them from trembling at the depth of the brunette's impassioned speech. She watched as Sakura turned from them and strode out the door, head held high and shoulders hunched.

"Was that really necessary?" Meilin demanded, rounding on her aunt. "That's her father you were talking about. How would you like it if someone said the same to Xiao Lang?!"

"Meilin, just leave it. I'm sure Yelan-san had her reasons."

Syaoran snorted. "If you'll excuse me, I have a spirit to seek out." With that he got to his feet and strode out the door, not bothering to look to his own mother.

* * *

Sakura folded her arms against the chilly wind as she stood leaning against the railings over looking the choppy lake of Tomoeda. Lightning spasmed through the thick black clouds, reflected off the turbulent waters and added a charge to the air. Idly she wondered if Li had ever found out what caused the earthquake. By rights, if he hadn't, she should be at home where she could be safe. But she couldn't, she just couldn't go back there. Not yet. Besides, it wasn't home. It was a house where she lived with her father, and her father's girlfriend and daughter.

She sighed. Was Li-san telling the truth? Did she really think her father could have killed her mother? Was her father a murderer? Was he capable of killing someone? She had once had this conversation one night with Naoko. Not about this topic exactly but something similar. To Naoko's way of thinking, everyone was capable of murder. Most just weren't capable or willing to be capable of committing a premeditated murder. But since humans were such fragile creatures, crimes of passion were all too simple to carry out. All you had to do, in Naoko's own words, was bash someone over the head and if they died, you were a murderer.

Maybe her father hadn't meant to kill her mother. Maybe it had been an accident. But if it had been an accident, why didn't he tell someone? She just couldn't believe that her father could be cold and callous enough to just make her mother disappear. To let everyone wonder where or how she had died for so many years. It just wasn't her father's style. She just couldn't wrap her mind around it. Her father just wouldn't kill anyone, especially her mother. He loved her.

_But isn't he with Hitomi Yanagizawa?_

Meilin's doubt filled words filled her mind. It was true. He had moved on and she had always believed that if you found your true love, there would be no one else. How could her father love her mother and then claim to love Hitomi. They weren't that alike looks wise nor had they similar personalities either.

She dashed at the tears that leaked from her eyes and tightened her grip on the rail. Why had her father come back here? If this was where he killed her mother, why did he come back? Surely he would know that he wasn't wanted. It just wasn't the actions of a guilty man. However, if he wasn't guilty, why had he left? Why didn't he tell her about her mother? How could she truly know anything without any knowledge?

"No." she whispered. She wouldn't believe her father would hurt her mother. He couldn't. He wasn't that type of person. He had raised her to know right from wrong. He adored Touya and had done everything in his power to make sure they both had a good, stable life. He had worked hard to be both a mother and a father to them.

'_But if her mother had been alive, he wouldn't have needed to be both.'_

Her phone trilled loudly and she started, reaching into her satchel for it, her fingers brushed the book. The priceless treasure, she amended, causing it to pulse and send a tingle shooting through her fingertips. She snapped back her hand. If this book was so important, she thought as she fumbled with the buttons of her phone, why had her father taken it away?

"Moshi-moshi, Sakura speaking."

"Hey, Sakura. I got your message. Is everything ok?" Her brother's deep baritone soothed her frayed nerves with just a few words. Her Touya made everything better. And yet, the sound of his voice sent an ache of longing straight through her. She wished he was close so that she could tuck herself in his arms and let him hold away all the bad thoughts. He could protect her from everything and anything.

"Hai, everything's… ok."

"You sure?"

"Hai-" A soft expulsion of sound burst from her lips, a high keening sound that ripped from her throat and shattered the air. Unable to stop the crash of emotions from overwhelming her, she tried to muffle the sobs that broke from her trembling lips only to find that once the dam had broken, the tears were going to run their course.

"Sakura? Sakura?" Touya's panicked voice burst from the receiver but she couldn't reply. The sobs wracked her body rendering her conversation skills useless. "What is it Sakura? Is it a boy? Tell me his name, Sakura and I'll kick his ass. Come on, Saku, talk to me. Please!"

She sniffled and sucked in a breath, gulping in air and hiccupping every so often in her attempt to gain some composure to reassure her frantic brother. She could already see him half way to his car, ready to be here in a heartbeat and the thought warmed her deep inside. Though her world may be falling down around her, Touya would always be the same, the one constant in her life that she could rely on.

"It's not… a boy, Touya. It's," She stopped to prevent another sob from exploding from her lips. "Gomen, it's not like that. I- Touya, I miss you so much."

"I miss you too, monster. But why are you crying? Shouldn't you be doing your math homework?"

Sakura smiled reluctantly. "No, jerk. I don't like math. Besides, I don't get homework on my first day." She blew a raspberry down the phone and smiled at his chuckle. "I- Touya, do you remember my mother?"

There was a pregnant pause before Touya spoke. "Vaguely, why? The first couple of years of my life were fuzzy, brat."

She inhaled deeply and blew it out long and slow while her head pounded fiercely, feeling hot and stuffy. "I found out that my mother lived here, right here in Tomoeda. I never knew that. I never knew how she died or if she had any relatives. I met my cousin and-"

"Hold on Sakura. Does Dad know all this?"

"What does it have to do with Dad? They're my relatives. My family. Not his."

"Sakura, what's really upset you?" Touya wondered, shrewdly. He knew his kaijou better than anyone. If she was taking this tone, then something really worrying had happened.

"Did Dad love mom?"

"I don't remember much, Saku, but I do know they were happy. They were always hugging and laughing and kissing. I didn't really understand it. She was really young and he never treated my mother the way he did yours but, she was this wonderful person. So full of light. Dad has never been as happy as he was with her, Sakura. He loved her."

"What happened to her, Touya? How did she die and why won't anyone tell me?"

"I don't remember. I know we left without her. Dad said she'd join us and then… I found him crying one day in the kitchen. He said it was the onions but he was heartbroken. I didn't know it then, but I do now. I guess that was the day she died. But we were in Tokyo by then."

A flutter of hope began to glow in her chest. If they were in Tokyo when her mother died, then he couldn't have killed her. He just couldn't be in two places at once. Unless, he had killed her and it took a few days for him to breakdown… She sighed. She needed to believe in her father. He was a good man with a kind heart. He tutored his students in college and offered children in her apartment block extra tuition for a small fee. He shopped for the elderly neighbors and he would always make time for her and Touya even when he was swamped with work.

"Why did you go to Tokyo without mom?"

She could almost see Touya shaking his head. "I guess we went to set things up or maybe mum had things to attend to before she left. All I know was that we never saw her once we left."

"What about the book?"

"What book?"

"Nothing. Nothing Touya. How's living on your own? You're not having any wild parties with acts of debauchery?"

Touya groaned. "You're not supposed to know about things like that. You're too young and if I even hear about you having a boyfriend, I'll be there so fast-"

Sakura laughed even though it felt like her heart was breaking. "Promises, promises!" She cried delightedly because it would make him smile and because it reminded her of the many times he had scared any boy who had so much as looked at her.

"Humph. Oh, that's my noodles. I've got to go Sakura. I'll phone you tomorrow? And don't worry about your mother, everything will work itself out. Trust me."

"Hai. Ja ne."

"Bye."

The phone clicked and she placed it back into her bag, turning on her heel and heading down the road back to her house. She needed answers and she needed them now.

* * *

**  
A.N.** _OK, so that's the end of that chapter. Sorry for the lateness but I write whenever I want to write and i find it comes out better that way. Hope you enjoyed it anyway. I'll try to have the next chapter up sometime soon and thanks so much for the reviews, they really get me through these blocks._


	6. Awakening

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura but I do own the basic idea of the plot and some of the characters who you don't recognize.

Oh and this chapter is dedicated to jennycuenca for reviewed every chapter in one sitting it seems, lol. I'm so happy and your reviews gave me such an ego boost, I'm glad you like the characters. I'm still finding my way because it was years and years ago since I watched the dubbed version of Cardcaptors (though granted the UK version was better than the USA version) so I'm going to make mistakes but I like this story too much to not write it.

* * *

**Previously on Sins of the Father:**

"_Fujitaka Kinomoto is returning."_

_-_

"_I had that dream again."_

"_Of the girl?"_

_**-**_

_It was a thick book, almost like a diary, with a red intricate cover with gold decoration. On the front was the most bizarre picture of a fierce lion's face and on the back a symbol of some sort._

_Compelled to, she reached out her hand to it and placed her palm on the front of it before jerking it back as though burned. An electrical current had shot up her arm at the touch and it filled her with a warm glowing feeling. Strange. It almost felt as though something had been unlocked…_

_-_

"_Nadeshiko." he whispered as he stared down at the beautiful woman with the verdant eyes. _

_Tomoyo nodded solemnly. "I was looking for photos of her in case any of them had a picture of the man but none of them did. She looked so happy didn't she? I don't think she stole the book Syaoran. Look how close she is to your mother and mine. She would never betray them."_

_Placing a brotherly kiss on her head, he made a vow. "We'll find out what happened to her, I promise you that Tomoyo."_

"_Thank you, Syaoran."_

_-_

"_You really remind me of someone." Tomoyo blurted out uncharacteristically and mentally slapped herself but she had caught Sakura's attention now, she'd just have to plunder on. _

_Turning her head, Sakura regarded the dark haired girl. "Oh? Who?"_

"_My mother's cousin. You just seem to share some similarities. She died a long time ago, shortly after I was born actually. No one knows the details, the grown ups keep it pretty hush-hush but she was too young for her death to be natural. Nadeshiko was a nice person. She really didn't deserve to die so young."_

_-_

"_Sakura Kinomoto? Who's Sakura Kinomoto?" Meilin demanded. _

"_Nadeshiko's daughter."_

_Both Li's stepped back as though slapped from the force of the revelation. Meilin recovered first and as per usual ploughed straight ahead with her question. "Nadeshiko had a daughter?"_

_**-**_

"_The forces that hold Tomoeda together are becoming restless, they're yearning for something. If they're not controlled, they will destroy this sanctuary. Clow Reed's magick is wearing off. We had come to expect this eventuality."_

_-_

"_This is very hard to explain. You've grown up not believing in magick because to you it doesn't exist. To us it very much does. Nearly everyone in this town has magick in them. Tomoeda's a sanctuary for those with magick." _

_Without a word, Tomoyo turned her hand over and there in her palm was a small orb of… black swirling mist, Sakura spied with surprise. Reaching out, she brushed it with her finger tips and watched as it dispersed before seeping back into Tomoyo's pale fingertips._

_-_

_Tomoyo smiled. "Your mother could predict things, Sakura, with startling accuracy."_

"_Well, if she could tell the future, how come she didn't know she was going to die?" Meilin finally asked._

_-_

"_Hold it." Syaoran commanded as he caught the girls' shoulders and forced her to look up at him. "You can see my aura?" _

_She gulped under his heavy scrutiny and nodded slowly._

"_I don't know." Sakura finally choked out. "I really don't know. I could never see anything before and now everything is so new and shiny and I… I don't know how this happened."_

_-_

"_There's a prophesy that a chosen one will rise, strong and powerful in their magic and they will battle the cards to seal them once more and continue Clow's work to maintain the haven that is Tomoeda. Whoever can open that book and unlock the key, will be the chosen one."_

_Syaoran sighed. "They thought I would do it once. But I couldn't unlock the key."_

"_Maybe if you unlock the book, you can unlock the key. That could be the key to unlocking the key." She flushed and her nose wrinkled. "Hoe. That didn't come out right."_

"_Look, Kinomoto. Hold onto that for me and don't tell anyone you have it. I don't want to get their hopes up."_

_-_

"_No, we don't get earthquakes. We're not on a fault line." Tomoyo shouted over the dark rumbling as she caught a trinket before it smashed on the floor. _

"_Then, what is it?" Meilin demanded as panic began to lick at her tone. _

"_Get in the doorway!" Syaoran ordered, clambering in the window and grabbing Meilin by the elbow before herding both her and Tomoyo over to the doorway. _

_-_

"_Sakura, may I call you Sakura?" The woman asked softly, laying her petal soft fingers against the young girls' cheek. "I do not think you're mother is alive. Something inside me tells me that she has long ago passed on."_

"_I do not know for sure. But the evidence speaks for itself. Your father seduced my friend, he got her with child and then he left, taking a priceless antique with him."_

"_My father would never have hurt my mother. He loved her. He loves her."_

"_I hope you are right, my child. But there is a reason Tomoeda has brought you back, my dear girl, and I will find out why. Nadeshikos' death will not go unpunished."_

* * *

And now back to the story-

Chapter Six - Awakening

Sakura folded her arms against the chilly wind as she stood leaning against the railings over looking the choppy lake of Tomoeda. Lightning spasmed through the thick black clouds, reflected off the turbulent waters and added a charge to the air. Idly she wondered if Li had ever found out what caused the earthquake. By rights, if he hadn't, she should be at home where she could be safe. But she couldn't, she just couldn't go back there. Not yet. Besides, it wasn't home. It was a house where she lived with her father, and her father's girlfriend and daughter.

She sighed. Was Li-san telling the truth? Did she really think her father could have killed her mother? Was her father a murderer? Was he capable of killing someone? She had once had this conversation one night with Naoko. Not about this topic exactly but something similar. To Naoko's way of thinking, everyone was capable of murder. Most just weren't capable or willing to be capable of committing a premeditated murder. But since humans were such fragile creatures, crimes of passion were all too simple to carry out. All you had to do, in Naoko's own words, was bash someone over the head and if they died, you were a murderer.

Maybe her father hadn't meant to kill her mother. Maybe it had been an accident. But if it had been an accident, why didn't he tell someone? She just couldn't believe that her father could be cold and callous enough to just make her mother disappear. To let everyone wonder where or how she had died for so many years. It just wasn't her father's style. She just couldn't wrap her mind around it. Her father just wouldn't kill anyone; especially her mother. He loved her.

_But isn't he with Hitomi Yanagisawa?_

Meilins' doubt filled words filled her mind. It was true. He had moved on and she had always believed that if you found your true love, there would be no one else. How could her father love her mother and then claim to love Hitomi. They weren't that alike looks wise –she knew that for certain; nor had they similar personalities either -at least she didn't think they did.

She dashed at the tears that leaked from her eyes and tightened her grip on the rail. Why had her father come back here? If this was where he killed her mother, why did he come back? Surely he would know that he wasn't wanted. It just wasn't the actions of a guilty man. However, if he wasn't guilty, why had he left? Why didn't he tell her about her mother? How could she truly know anything without any knowledge?

"No." she whispered. She wouldn't believe her father would hurt her mother. He couldn't. He wasn't that type of person. He had raised her to know right from wrong. He adored Touya and had done everything in his power to make sure they both had a good, stable life. He had worked hard to be both a mother and a father to them.

'_But if her mother had been alive, he wouldn't have needed to be both.'_

Her phone trilled loudly and she started, reaching into her satchel for it, her fingers brushed the book. The priceless treasure she amended, causing it to pulse and send a tingle shooting through her fingertips. She snapped back her hand. If this book was so important, she thought as she fumbled with the buttons of her phone, why had her father taken it away?

"Moshi-Moshi, Sakura speaking."

"**Hey, Sakura. I got your message. Is everything ok**?" Her brother's deep baritone soothed her frayed nerves with just a few words. Touya made everything better, and yet, the sound of his voice sent an ache of longing straight through her. She wished he was close so that she could tuck herself in his arms and let him hold away all the bad thoughts. He could protect her from everything and anything.

"Hai, everything's… ok."

"**You sure**?"

"Hai-" A soft expulsion of sound burst from her lips, a high keening sound that ripped from her throat and shattered the air. Unable to stop the crash of emotions from overwhelming her, she tried to muffle the sobs that broke from her trembling lips only to find that once the dam had broken the tears were going to run their course.

"**Sakura**? **Sakura**?" Touya's panicked voice burst from the receiver but she couldn't reply. The sobs wracked her body rendering her conversation skills useless. "**What is it Sakura**? **Is it a boy**? **Tell me his name, Sakura and I'll kick his ass**. **Come on, Saku, talk to me. Please**!"

She sniffled and sucked in a breath, gulping in air and hiccupping every so often in her attempt to gain some composure to reassure her frantic brother. She could already see him half way to his car, ready to be here in a heartbeat and the thought warmed her deep inside. Though her world may be falling down around her, Touya would always be the same; the one constant in her life that she could rely on.

"It's not… a boy, Touya. It's," She stopped to prevent another sob from exploding from her lips. "Gomen, it's not like that. I- Touya, I miss you so much."

"**I miss you too, **_**kaijou**_. **But why are you crying**? **Shouldn't you be doing your math homework**?"

Sakura smiled reluctantly. "No, jerk. I don't like math. Besides, I don't get homework on my first day." She blew a raspberry down the phone and smiled at his chuckle. "I- _nii-chan_, do you remember my mother?"

There was a pregnant pause before Touya spoke. "**Vaguely, why**? **The first couple of years of my life were fuzzy, brat**."

She inhaled deeply and blew it out long and slow while her head pounded fiercely, feeling hot and stuffy. "I found out that my mother lived here, right here in Tomoeda. I never knew that. I never knew how she died or if she had any relatives. I met my cousin and-"

"**Hold on Sakura. Does Dad know all this**?"

"What does it have to do with Dad? They're my relatives. My family. Not his."

"**Sakura, what's really upset you**?" Touya wondered, shrewdly. He knew his _kaijou_ better than anyone. If she was taking this tone; then something really worrying had happened.

"Did Dad love mom?"

"**I don't remember much, Saku, but I do know they were happy. They were always hugging and laughing and kissing. I didn't really understand it. She was really young and he never treated my mother the way he did yours but, she was this wonderful person. So full of light. Dad has never been as happy as he was with her, Sakura. He loved her.**"

"What happened to her, Touya? How did she die and why won't anyone tell me?"

"**I don't remember. I know we left without her. Dad said she'd join us and then… I found him crying one day in the kitchen. He said it was the onions but he was heartbroken. I didn't know it then, but I do now. I guess that was the day she died. But we were in Tokyo by then.**"

A flutter of hope began to glow in her chest. If they were in Tokyo when her mother died; then he couldn't have killed her. He just couldn't be in two places at once. Unless, he had killed her and it took a few days for him to breakdown…

She sighed. She needed to believe in her father. He was a good man with a kind heart. He tutored his students in college and offered children in her apartment block extra tuition for a small fee. He shopped for the elderly neighbors and he would always make time for her and Touya even when he was swamped with work.

"Why did you go to Tokyo without mom?"

She could almost see Touya shaking his head. "**I guess we went to set things up or maybe mum had things to attend to before she left. All I know was that we never saw her once we left.**"

"What about the book?"

"**What book?**"

So he didn't know about the book. The book was unique, he would have automatically recognized what she was hinting about if he knew of its existence. Her brother could hide nothing from her. "It's nothing Touya. How's living on your own? You're not having orgies, are you Touya?"

As expected, the outlandish claim distracted Touya from the book. He groaned. "**You're not supposed to know about things like that. You're too young and if I even hear about you having a boyfriend, I'll be there so fast-**"

Sakura laughed even though inside she felt numb and impenetrable. "Promises, promises!" She cried delightedly.

"**Hn." He inhaled sharply then sighed. "My noodles are done. I got to go Sakura. I'll phone you tomorrow? And don't worry about your mother, everything will work itself out. Trust me**."

"Hai. Ja ne."

"**Bye.**"

The phone clicked and she placed it back into her bag, turning on her heel and heading down the road back to her house. She needed answers and she needed them now.

* * *

"Tadaima!" Sakura stepped into the front hall and slipped off her shoes; replacing them with her slippers as she listened to the sounds of the house, checking for any other presences. "'tou-san? Hitomi-san? Naoko-chan?"

Nobody replied and stepping into the kitchen, she glanced around for any signs that they were around but found nothing. The kitchen was clean; obviously Hitomi had given it a brisk once over before she left for work and there was no hint that anyone had started on the dinner yet. Glancing down at her clothes, she decided to get changed before she started on the meal preparation. It would also give her time to compose herself; she didn't think she was quite ready to face her father yet.

What would she say to him anyway? _Oh hey dad, did you kill mum?_ No, she couldn't say that. Besides the fact that it was rude and insulting, there was also the fact that it would hurt him unbearably. He was her father. She couldn't accuse her father of murder. And even if he did, and she really didn't believe that, he would deny it if asked outright. Anyone would. No one would ever admit to murder, not without sufficient evidence and proof; she'd watched enough crime dramas to know that much.

Oh, this was her father for crying out loud. Her father, who had taught her how to read and write; who had taken her down to the local park at her whim to teach her how to rollerblade and who would put off work to stay at home when she was sick. She just couldn't see him as someone who would have murdered her mother. Her father was a good, kind and honorable man; men like him didn't kill people and if they did, they wouldn't just get on with their lives. They would turn themselves in because the guilt would eat them alive.

No, she couldn't even think of her father as a murderer. She had lived with him for sixteen years and she knew him better than anyone. He just couldn't, no _wouldn't_ kill someone. Especially not someone he loved enough to marry and make a life with. It wasn't in his nature. He was a nurturer, not a murderer.

With that thought stuck firmly in her mind, she ascended the stairs and headed for her room. Just this morning she had sat there on her bed and had contemplated how scary a new school would be, but it didn't seem like a couple of hours ago. It seemed like days ago, weeks even. This morning she wouldn't have dared think her father was a murderer; the thought wouldn't even cross her mind and now, just a few hours later, she was lost and confused. In such a short span of time, her entire world had been turned upside down.

Not for the first time, she regretted the decision to move to Tomoeda but a big part of her felt… relief? No not relief, but she knew that sometimes ignorance really was bliss; however, she needed to know about her mother and if Tomoeda held the secrets to figuring out what happened to Nadeshiko, then she would stay and discover those secrets.

She needed to know.

Dropping her bag onto her bed, she moved listlessly to the box that held her clothes and taking the penknife she had borrowed, she slit through the tape and opened it. Inside, her clothes sat neatly folded and quietly, waiting for her to take them out and put them in their new home. Just the thought of actually taking time to unpack seemed monumental at the moment and she just couldn't concentrate, not with thoughts of murder and her parents in her head.

Sinking onto her bed, she held a skirt in her clammy palm and a hooded tank top in the other. What was she expected to do, she wondered as she slipped off her slippers and reached back to tug down the zipper of her plaid skirt. How was she supposed to find out what happened to her mother if no one knew but her mother? Li-san didn't, her father probably didn't and if he did, well she didn't want to know from him. That would bring up all sorts of questions she just didn't want to face right now.

Why couldn't she just be a normal teenager facing a new school and new friends and boyfriends? She had been normal just a week ago, normal and slightly scared but now… now she was dealing with the potential murder of her mother and the people she thought she could be friends with suspected her father of the murder and as for boyfriends? Well she didn't have time for them and even if she did, there wasn't anyone at the school who she even thought she could like.

_What about Li_? She ignored the traitorous question and dismissed it immediately. She liked him, she decided, he was really quite interesting and maybe with time she would be able to call him a friend. She certainly felt… connected to him, as if he was someone she could confide in; someone she could tell her deepest, darkest secrets to and he would listen and try to help. He had that ingrained goodness in him even if it was disguised under a heap of frustration and broodiness. But that was understandable given his complicated life. So much pressure, she thought with sympathy, not the type of pressure other kids his age would ever have to face.

Which was why he didn't need some new girl hanging around and bothering him, but if he did need her, she'd be there. Just not as anything more than a friend. The poor guy didn't need a fan club.

A soft hiss began outside as fat juicy drops of rain descended from the thick black clouds, splashing against the window creating thick rivulets that soon became streams that raced down the glass pane. Frowning, she got to her feet and froze, a blush staining her cheeks as her skirt loosened and slid fractionally lower. Dress first, examine the weather later, she decided.

She shimmied into the burgundy skirt and then the pale pink tank top, hanging up her uniform neatly. As soon as she was finished, she crossed to the window and opened it, gazing out into the plummeting raindrops that created a silvery haze over the countryside. Was Li out in that, she wondered as she looked up at the rolling black clouds, thick to bursting with rain. Lightning spasmed through it; dancing and flickering, as though trapped behind and looking for an escape. When it finally did escape, it speared down to the earth with a violent force. She flinched; wondering if it hit anything or was anyone hurt?

It seemed unfair that Li had to handle this on his own. He was only a teenager, just like her, he should have been going to the arcade, going on dates –for some reason that idea struck her as amusing; it just didn't seem like something he would like too much- or playing soccer. Just normal teenager things but instead, he was making sure the town was safe and searching for the cause of the mysterious weather. Shouldn't that be the elders job, she wondered. Why was Li burdened with it?

Because of the book, she realized as she crossed to her satchel. With careful hands, she lifted the book out and laid it on the bed. This book held the secret, she just knew it. If only Li could open it. Then he would be able to place the powers under contract again and the town would be safe. Curiously, she sat down and placed the book on her lap. It didn't look that incredible. Beautiful, yes, it was beautiful, like an ornate diary bound in red leather with brass etchings but it didn't look dangerous. It didn't look magical.

She studied the beast head on the cover, imprisoned by a chain and a sun talisman. On the side, there was a clip but no lock and no key hole. Frowning, she turned it on its side and studied it. If there was no key hole, how did the key open it? Wait, didn't Li say he couldn't unlock the key? How did someone unlock a key? It was a key. Key's opened locks; they didn't open themselves… unless it was a broach or something like on the books in that film about a mummy. They weren't actually keys, but they slotted into the book and opened them. Maybe that was what Li meant. Maybe the key was in the form of a puzzle that he hadn't been able to crack. But that still didn't help.

She placed her hand on the front cover, over the picture of the lion's face. "How do you open?" She wondered quietly.

The book reacted instantaneously. Light spilled out from behind the cover, illuminating the room in a soft golden glow. It pulsed under her hand like a heartbeat, a live thing and she yanked her hand back in surprise. She stared at it but just as suddenly as it had flared to life; it became quiet again, looking just like any other old book.

"You're beginning to scare me." She confessed quietly, her brows knitted over her confused green eyes.

Her mobile trilled shrilly and with a sigh, she lifted it, eyeing the book warily. "Moshi-Moshi, Sakura speaking."

"**Sakura-chan, where are you**?" Tomoyo's voice exclaimed loudly through the speaker.

Sakura's immediate reaction was to reassure the frantic girl. "It's ok Tomoyo-chan, I'm at my house."

"**Oh good, I'm so relieved. I was scared that you might be out in that storm**." At Tomoyo's words, Sakura turned her attention to the window in front of her. Already puddles were forming and joining, dripping off the trees and coating the balcony in a slippery film. "**Look, I'm really sorry about what Li-san said. I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it. She's just upset about her friends' death and you showed up so unexpectedly. I really doubt that your father could do something like that. After all he raised you and-**"

"It's ok, Tomoyo-chan." And she wanted to believe that it was because there were just some things she didn't want to dwell on and she didn't want to alienate her friends. It was probably just as Tomoyo-chan said but part of her refused to believe that. No, she thought with a shake of her head, this was all just a misunderstanding and it would all resolve itself. Everything would be all right in the end. She just had to believe that.

"**So are you sure you're ok? I can come over if you want some company**."

"No, I'm ok. I'm just working on getting dinner ready." Her gaze moved away from the book as it remained quiet and inactive on her bed; instead it concentrated on the pouring rain outside.

"**Well then I'll leave you to it. Don't work too hard, ok?**"

"_Iie_, I won't."

"**Bye Sakura-chan**."

"Goodbye Tomoyo-chan, I'll see you tomorrow at school." Hanging up, Sakura turned her attention back to the book. Maybe she should have told Tomoyo that it had been glowing but of course, she had promised Li that no one would know that she had it; especially not now with Yelan Li being so angry about her father. Was it possible that he stolen it and killed her mother in the process?

She shook her head. No, her father wouldn't have done that. He was incapable of such violence. He didn't even kill spiders and when they had that tiny mouse problem in their apartment, he had refused to use exterminators, poisons or harmful traps. It just wasn't in her father's nature.

He recovered pieces of history and he grieved for the lives that had been lost needlessly in wars. Her father valued life; he'd never destroy it, not even for such a find as the book of Clow. It would be completely against his morals.

But how could she prove what she knew deep in her heart?

Yelan Li hated him, had always disliked him it seemed; so nothing Sakura could say would make her change such a stubborn woman's opinion. She believed he had, if not killed, at least stolen a friend from her. Not to mention the fact that she was an adult and they weren't the best at listening to those younger than them. She was adamant that Fujitaka had killed Nadeshiko and would probably spread that theory to everyone else in the village. The only way Sakura could see of defending her dear 'tou-san was if she were to get legitimate proof but how? She needed answers and help. But who?

_What about Li_?

She shook her head. He had enough on his plate with the spirits and the book of Clow and besides, Yelan was his mother.

_What about Tomoyo_? Hmm. While Tomoyo had been perfectly nice and completely forthcoming about their relationship to each other and the magic of Tomoeda, Sakura just didn't know how much she could rely on Tomoyo; which was ridiculous, why would she trust Li more than she trusted her second cousin?

Naoko… Naoko would help, she was sure of it and Naoko wasn't linked in any way to the Li family that Sakura knew of and Naoko was someone she could trust. Plus Naoko was smart, really smart; book smart. Naoko could help her, she was sure of it. But more than that, Naoko _would_ help her and without any ulterior motive.

It was just as she was coming to this decision that she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. _Please_, she prayed, _please let that be the phone glowing and not the book_. But, of course, the phone glowed white and the glow that was beginning to permeate through the room was more golden than white. Her head turned and she dropped her gaze to the rectangle sitting harmlessly on her bed, golden light trickling along the frame around the golden beast.

Sakura swallowed and leaned closer, her eyes squinting against the glow to make out what was happening. It was like a door at night, outlined by the light from outside. As she leaned closer, she made out the golden catlike eyes that watched her and then-

She gasped and flung herself back as she was suddenly blinded by the searing beam of gold that exploded from the front of the book.

She should have given the book to Li, she thought panicking, as she dived to the floor; her hand scrambling over the bedcover to find her mobile. Why hadn't she given it to Li? He would have known what to do with it. Now it was turning into a light show and she didn't know what to do. Her hand closed over the phone and she quickly tugged it down to tap in a number… What number? She couldn't phone Touya, he was in Tokyo. She couldn't phone her father, could she? What would she tell him? '_Ano, otou-san, you know that book you stole from the Li-clan? Well it's lit up like a 1,000 kilowatt bulb!_'

She shook her head. Think logically, there must be someone. Ideally she would like to phone Li since he knew but she didn't have his number. Tomoyo? Meilin? Li didn't want them to know.

The light was beginning to dim or maybe it was the fact that a shadow was appearing in the middle of the light. Sakura watched it rise on the wall across from her. Funny, it sort of resembled a teddy bear but whatever it was, Sakura did not want it to find her. On deciding this, she began to crawl along the side of the bed towards the door.

A low growl trickled through the room and Sakura froze, her hair standing on end. Oh she should have given the book to Li. What if it was a ghost? She hated ghosts. Squeezing her eyes shut, she began to inch forward.

"Ahhh… that was such a nice nap."

Sakura froze once more and a frown knitted her brow. Nap? The creature had been napping? And did it have wings? She studied the large round head projected on the wall above her, the head had two little semi circles like ears and over its shoulders something seemed to rise up, like wings… she hoped.

"So this is what the new world looks like. It's WAY COOL!!"

Sakura blinked at the hyperactive voice, sounding more like an enthusiastic teenager rather than a blood thirsty beast that she was imagining. Unless it was a ghost of an enthusiastic teenager in which case she'd rather the beast.

Gathering her courage and sucking in a deep breath, she peeked up over the bed at the spot where the book lay. The glow had died down considerably and instead it seemed to resonate from around the creature hovering above it looking round.

"Though it is a bit small for my liking. And where's the kitchen? I want food!"

Suddenly the little yellow _pixie (?)_ stopped in its tracks and inhaled deeply. Sakura dropped down again and prayed and pleaded that it wouldn't find her.

"Hey little girl!"

* * *

Koji Hahn stood in the large sheltered doorway of the Town Hall waiting out the heavy shower that had descended onto the small town with no warning. Townsfolk rushed to and fro, hidden from view by large macs and colorful umbrellas barely stopping to exchange a good word. Those students that lived outside the town stood under the bus shelter hoping that the small mini bus would hurry up and come soon so that they could get out of their wet clothing. A few cars splashed through the rivulets of water that streamed down the road and into the drains.

He pulled out a slim white cigarette and put it into his mouth, holding it between his lips as he fished in his pockets for his lighter. It should have been in his jeans somewhere, he'd just bought a fresh one this morning, hence why he had been late for class; putting up with the lecture from old lady Nomura.

Finally finding it, he pulled out the white plastic object and cupping it, he flicked up the flame, waiting for it to catch against the cigarette. Replacing it back into his pocket, he inhaled deeply and blew out a steady stream of smoke through his nose. Instantly his whole body felt relaxed and he slouched peacefully against the stone wall.

His mother would be still working at the local restaurant serving dim sum and noodles to every Tai, Daichi and Haku who popped in to get some sustenance. God knows where his step-father would be but Koji didn't give a damn about the sick opportunist. The more he was away, the happier Koji was but he just wished he'd keep his mother informed so that he wouldn't have to listen to her crying at night. Not that he ever let her know that he heard. That was her business. She chose to marry Nakamura, Koji had no say in the matter; after all he had just been a kid at the time.

He snorted and flicked the cigarette sending ash floating to the ground. Lightning crashed over the sky and he felt a certain affinity for the tumultuous weather. A group of teenage girls in the school uniform walked past him along the pavement talking quickly in soft breathless voices.

He breathed in the cold, wet air and watched his breath plume in front of him as he exhaled. It was getting colder, another shift in the weather. If it continued to go like this, Tomoeda would turn into a modern day ice-age. It was ridiculous and it played into the whole theory with the spirits growing restless, another Li conspiracy to keep the people under their thumb. What pissed him off was that Hime was following the whole thing like a stupid sheep; if Li-san wanted to make up stories to keep the people cowering, that was one thing but bringing her own children into it… it just stank of dictatorship. He hated parents who took advantage of their kids, brainwashing them into believing their ideas. Honestly, he thought Feimei would have at least some sense but it seemed his Princess was eating up the spirit theory too. Silly child.

He snorted and flicked off more ash, watching it flutter slowly to the ground. More students passed by and shot him curious looks before dismissing him just as quickly. It wasn't strange to see Koji lurking around the doorways of Tomoeda, the boy never seemed to want to go home but it didn't mean that the town felt comfortable with him there. You never knew what would set off the brooding temper of the red haired teen.

He sighed and turned his eyes to the sky, the rain was getting monotonous and nothing exciting seemed to be happening in town. Maybe he should just go sit in the restaurant and do his homework but he didn't want his mother fussing over him or trying to buy him food with money she didn't have to spend.

He chipped at the black nail polish on his fingers contemplatively, lifting his head when he heard a cheerful ring of a bell. A figure on a bicycle was zipping along the pavement, weaving in and out of the scant amount of people walking along the shop front. His eyes narrowed on the figure; he recognized the bright blue raincoat decorated with hot pink polka dots.

Feimei Li, now what was she doing down here at this time? Didn't the Li's run home to their precious fortress to keep themselves away from the big evil spirits?

He rolled his eyes and watched as she cycled slowly up the street, not seeming to mind the streaming rain or the poor visibility. She hadn't noticed him, probably wouldn't as they were on different sides of the road and she was concentrating on her path; but because he was watching her, he noticed the way the bike wobbled and the sudden shift of her body that knocked off the balance. Quick as a flash, he had tossed away his cigarette and was down the steps and across the road.

He heard the beep of the horn, the squeal of the breaks as if from a distance and out of his peripheral vision he saw the flash of shock on the drivers face and then suddenly he was slumped against the pavement, on his back and staring up at the thick black clouds. Through the roaring in his ears he heard the growing babble of noise from the people on the street and the slam of a door. Footsteps echoed in his ears and he blinked, focusing on the blobs of shapes hovering over him.

"My god, are you ok?"

"I didn't see her; she just came out of nowhere."

"Should we call an ambulance?"

"Hahn-san?"

He scowled up at them. What did they want? Couldn't they see that he was flat on his back and didn't need them asking him stupid questions? Why were they looking to him for advice? They were the adults; he was just a kid for crying out loud. Why couldn't they just leave him alone?

Dimly he was aware of the heavy weight resting against his body, and lifting his head, he peered down at the red head pressed against his chest. "Feimei?" He choked out.

"Are you two ok? Is your girlfriend alright?"

"Not my girlfriend." He muttered; struggling to sit up whilst holding the tiny girl against him. "Hey, Hime, you alright?"

"Hai," She mumbled; her breath a hot expulsion of air through the thin fabric of his shirt. "Oh, itai."

"Ouch?" he repeated in disbelief. Who was the one flat on their back? He was the one who cushioned her fall, not the other way round.

"Hmm, I'm ok." She whispered, sitting back and wincing in pain, her fingers moving up to rub her left temple, while the other hand remained clutched around his shirt. She tilted her head and blinked those big brown eyes up at him… "Hahn-sempai? What… What happened?"

"You decided to dive out in front of a car." He told her gruffly; extracting himself from her hold and rising to his feet, dusting down his pants. He noted grimly that they were soaked through and coated with grit from the puddle he'd landed on.

"What? No, I didn't do that. It wasn't on purpose-"

"She probably slipped on the wet ground," The man who had almost knocked her over stated, motioning to the faded treds on her wheels.

"Iie," Feimei murmured. "It wasn't like that… I didn't slip, I…" She looked up startled at the upperclassman standing over her. Gosh sometimes she hated how tall he was and more so, she hated how he lorded it over her. "Hahn-sempai, I was pushed!"

"Pushed?" Koji shook his head. "No, you weren't. I was standing right over there, I saw you. There was no one around. You must have slipped; though why you insisted on coming out in the rain-"

"I didn't slip. I felt like something shoved into me."

"Uh, do you mind if I go now? If you're both alright, I mean. It's just that I need to get these groceries back to my wife. She gets awfully irritable if I'm late." The man began to fidget nervously, as he scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.

Koji dismissed the man with an irritated nod of his head but he didn't look away from the frowning girl kneeling before him. A gust of wind blew up suddenly and she shivered. A scowl tightened his mouth. "Come on, get up or you'll catch a cold."

She rolled her eyes, pushing herself so that she could stand and her eyes sought out her bicycle, her shoulders slumping in defeat when she saw the bent front wheel. "Aw, shimatta, okaa-san's going to be so mad with me."

"Be glad it's just your wheel and not your head, Hime."

"Hai, I suppose that's true, demo, I don't believe that I slipped. I stand by my claim, I was pushed and if you were any sort of a gentleman, you'd lend me your jacket because I'm cold!"

Koji snorted, his brow crinkling incredulously. "Hime, I'm not like your brother and you being cold means nothing to me."

"Baka!"

"Name calling's not very ladylike, hime."

She raked a hand through her soaked hair, frowning at the grit embedded within the strands. "Ew."

"What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be tucked away, safe and secure in the Li mansion?"

"I was going to the library." She replied distractedly, shivering as another breeze whipped up almost bowling her over from the force.

When she wobbled, Koji stepped forward so that she fell against him but didn't go down. She frowned up at him and placed her hand on his upper-arm to steady herself, as the wind continued to sting her eyes and her lungs.

"Woah!"

He tucked his head down to shield it from the biting wind, bracing himself by planting his feet firmly on the ground. "Come on; let's get out of this wind!"

She nodded, huddling closer to him as they made their way, -fighting against the storm-, towards the nearest doorway. Above their heads, thunder growled and lightning crackled. Feimei shivered; a trickle of something scurried down her back. "This is no ordinary wind!" She shouted over the unearthly howling.

"Don't start that again, Hime. I'm not falling for this spirit thing. If you want to scare the townsfolk, that's your prerogative but I'm not buying it."

"It's not a gimic-"

He snarled and whirled on her, hands clamping hard around her forearms like manacles, holding them captive. "Stop it, hime! I'll believe in the magick, I don't have a choice in that but this mythology is bullshit!"

Blinking rapidly to stop the rain from entering her eyes, Feimei glared up at him. He looked so angry, yet so panicked. Did he really fear magick so much? She'd never seen him show any skill but she never knew that he could be scared of it. Quite a few people in Tomoeda didn't have magic but they envied it, they didn't fear it… at least they never acted as if they did. Could it really be possible?

"Is this something to do with your rivalry with Xiao-Lang? Do you still think that you could beat him if you had magic?"

"I don't have magic and nor do I want it. It's nothing but a crutch; something people come to rely on but in the real world, you can't just snap your fingers and have everything fall into place."

She huffed furiously, her chest heaving and her cheeks puffing up as she held in her words. How dare he?! How dare he make it seem as if they just used their magick for selfish reasons? He knew nothing about what they went through; what her brother went through. "If you don't have magick; then tell me this: if you were the whole way over there, how did you get across the road in time to stop me from being knocked down?" She challenged in a low, daring tone.

He froze and stared at her in surprise. How did he...? He remembered standing there but he didn't remember getting there, it was like he blinked and suddenly they were both on the sidewalk, safe from harm. He sucked in a breath. "Who cares how I got there? You should be glad I did!"

Feimei sighed softly. "I am glad; you saved my life Hahn-sempai but…" She pondered her next words for a moment before gathering her confidence and plowing on. "Sometimes people say ignorance is bliss but it can also be a form of cowardice. Don't let your fears blind you."

"I'm not blind, hime. Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself and I don't need magical powers to do so. Maybe you should just concentrate on looking after yourself!"

Her mouth opened to retort before snapping closed in righteous indignation. Hahn-sempai had to be the most stubborn person in the world; he could even rival her dear onii-chan! In the awkward silence that settled between them, she noticed something. "Hey, the wind's died down…" She turned her head to the sky and frowned. "And it's stopped raining."

"Good, I'm going home."

She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out; after all, she was a respectable member of the Li-clan. She couldn't be caught acting childish in the middle of the street.

Pop.

Pop.

Pop.

"Koji?" She called, eyeing the lights that were going out at the bottom of the street, slowly making its way towards her.

Whether it was the fact that she called him by his first name without any added suffix or if it was the thread of fear underlining his name, she didn't know but within a heartbeat he was at her side. "What the hell?!"

"That's not normally how a black out starts, is it?"

"No, all the lights go out together in a black out; not one bulb, then another." It watched as more popped in quick succession. He fisted his hands to prevent them from shaking; there was something so wrong about this situation. As the showering glass came closer, he tugged Feimei back under the awning, keeping his eyes shielded as the light bulbs burst over head. Glass fell to the earth with a tinkling sound too close to his feet for comfort.

"Hey, did you see that?"

Koji looked up from the jagged pieces of glass to look at where Feimie was looking. "What?"

"It was like a visible electrical current, like blue lightning running along the wires just before the bulbs popped."

"Hime, you're… whatever." He sighed heavily. She was determined to see the weird in the… slightly strange; the paranormal in the abnormal.

"I'm being serious- Wow, it's so dark. You don't realize how dark it can get in town without the lights on."

"Your eyes just need a moment to adjust." He pointed out.

She shook her head stepping out into the street, now completely dark bar the lights from the shops. People were huddled in the doorways, looking out at the street to see what had happened. Murmurings rose in a crescendo as most people declared it to be a black out or a fuse must have blown. Feimei sighed. Why, when they lived in such a magical place, was everyone determined to believe in the norm rather than what could be? Didn't they understand that the spirits would be breaking free from their contracts soon? Instead of just pretending it wasn't happening, they should be trying to do something more.

"I'm going."

"Ok then," She murmured, folding her arms to ward off the sudden chill. Over head thunder rumbled like an ominous chuckle causing goosebumps to break out over her skin. Her hands rubbed them to warm them with friction and then the lightning flashed, blindingly illuminating a glowing figure standing in the middle of the street. Feimei froze, a scream catching in her throat, closing it.

An eerie howl pierced the silence and the wind suddenly blew up once more, fiercer than before. With her hair whipping around her like coils of wild wet rope, Feimei moved forward, gripping Koji's arm in a vice like grip.

Koji frowned down at the girl, ready to order her to release him but the words died on his tongue as he caught a glimpse of her face. Suddenly the relation to Li was so damn obvious it all but slapped him in the face. Her eyes were almost black with their fierceness, her face usually so alive with life was blank as a mask and her mouth was in a grim line. He was no longer in the company of Princess Feimei but the youngest daughter of the Li Clan.

With a sense of foreboding, he allowed himself to follow her gaze to the middle of the street. A flash of movement streaked across his vision and a loud roar filled the small space between the buildings.

"Feimei?"

"Get out of here. Now!"

"What is it?" He demanded, feeling the pulse at his throat begin a jittery dance against his skin. What had her in such a state? Why couldn't he see it?

"Go, Koji! You need to go!" She shouted, placing herself in front of him already sliding into her fighting stance. "I need you to go find Xiao-Lang or oka-san."

"What is it, Feimei? Why can't I see it?"

"You don't want to. Just trust me on that. "

He shook his head. He didn't like this sudden aspect of her. She was so different, so eerie and yet she was a warrior as much as Li was. It was unnerving. "Where will he be?"

She closed her eyes and cast out her senses, searching for that familiar green aura that blazed like green fire. It flared in the back of her mind and she allowed herself to be pulled in his direction, idly noticing a throb of hot pink mingling with brilliant gold not too far away from him but they weren't her target. In her minds eye she saw a cluster of trees and in one of them, her brother sat crouched on a branch looking in the direction of the town.

"In the woods, east of here. Now go!"

Koji didn't waste another second; instead he pulled out his cell and dialed a familiar number. "Find Li in the woods and tell him to come to the town, now! And call the elders, we have a problem." No, he didn't believe in spirits but he believed in Feimei. If she said there was trouble, then there was trouble. He wasn't letting her go alone.

Feimei stared at him in horror. "I told you-"

He snorted. "And let you have all the fun, now's your chance to show me that you're right Feimei, don't tell me your chicken."

"On your head be it!" She snarled back and quickly raced after the Thunder Spirit.

* * *

**A.N. **Ah hey, not such a long wait, was it. Heh heh, everything seems to be kicking off in this chapter and it's only been one day. That seems to happen a lot in my fics. Anyways, I love Feimei but don't worry she's not going to seal the Thunder Spirit, lol and she's not super powerful even if she's a Li clan member. So hopefully the next chapter will but up soon enough. I like this story but I know that it'll be difficult to write. I'm not brilliant with action unless I'm in the right frame of mind and then there's the emotional stuff and then the romance… woot!! But anyways, I need to have some feedback so read and review please. 


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